RIVALS CROSSED:
China faces more challenges to bring its regulations into line with CPTPP standards, while Taiwan offers better economic integration, expert said

• By Hsieh Chun-lin, Wu Chi-lun and Jonathan Chin / Staff Journalists, with the editor

Lifting the ban on certain Japanese food imports is not a prerequisite for Taiwan’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang said yesterday (蘇貞 昌).

Su made the remarks in response to media questions about Taiwan’s official bid on Wednesday to join the CPTPP after Minister without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振 中) said the country’s ban on certain imports of Japanese food – implemented work after the disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant of March 11, 2011 – would be an obstacle to negotiations.

For food security reasons, the then Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government banned imports of food and agricultural products from the Japanese prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi and Chiba following the disaster. .

Since taking power back in May 2016, the Progressive Democratic Party (DPP) has said it plans to lift the ban, but no progress has been made on the issue.

Deng, head of the Executive Yuan’s trade negotiations office, said yesterday that Taiwan “absolutely has to face the problem once the Japanese side asks us to lift the ban.”

The government will solve the problem with Japan by following international standards and scientific evidence, while safeguarding public health, Deng said, adding that Taiwan would learn from the example of the United States, which announced on Wednesday that they lifted all restrictions on food imports. products from Japan established in the aftermath of the 2011 nuclear disaster.

Su said yesterday that the DPP government expects its application to join the trade group to be successful, citing Taiwan’s economic freedom, laws and regulations, and comments from CPTPP members in informal negotiations. .

“There are no preconditions for food imports from Fukushima in connection with this case,” Su said.

“We treat food products in accordance with public health, scientific evidence and internationally accepted standards,” added the Prime Minister.

Taiwan will discuss the food import ban with Japan as part of the application process, Agriculture Council Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said yesterday before conceding that Tokyo is “deeply concerned. “by the ban.

Taiwan and China are the only countries that continue to ban food imports from areas of Japan affected by the nuclear power plant disaster, he said.

“Our principle is to let science decide how to manage food safety in Taiwan,” Chen said, adding that more than 170,000 food products from Japan had been tested since the 2011 incident and all met the standards. of security.

Commenting on the matter, National Central University economics professor Chiou Jiunn-rong (邱俊榮) said on Wednesday that Taiwan’s candidacy to join the CPTPP depends on the one hand on the ban on importing food and on the other hand political factors.

Taiwan has better economic integration than China, which applied to join the trade group on Thursday last week, he said, adding that Taiwan has more experience in trade negotiations with CPTPP members.

As the most important player in the CPTPP, Japan will have an outsized voice in Taiwan’s decision to join the group, he said.

This means that the import ban must be handled in a way that does not offend Japan, he said.

Resolving the food import ban will almost certainly secure the country’s membership in the CPTPP, he said.

China faces more challenges in its candidacy than Taiwan, Chiou said.

For its bid to be successful, Beijing will need to bring its laws and regulations into line with CPTPP standards, especially those governing state-owned enterprises, labor rights, environmental standards and intellectual property, he said. added.

Regarding the Beijing-led political interference, Chiou said the US-China trade dispute made it necessary for the US, Japan and Australia to support Taiwan.

This would create a level of pressure that China would not be able to match with its allies like Peru, he said, adding that most CPTPP members are already supportive of Taiwan.

“Unless there is a very powerful political reason, most of the group, especially Japan, are allies who would welcome Taiwan’s candidacy,” he said.

CNA Supplementary Reports