Wu Chih-yang told a Legislative Yuan economic affairs committee meeting only 170.92 million birds were disposed of at authorized slaughterhouses. "They represented only 45 percent of the fowls slaughtered for public consumption in 2005," Wu said. Altogether 378.05 million chickens, geese and ducks were slaughtered in that year.

He attributed the dearth of duly inspected poultry to the government failure to build fowl slaughterhouses.
In whole northern Taiwan, the Kuomintang legislator said, there are only two authorized poultry slaughterhouses, and 13 cities and counties simply have none.

On the other hand, Wu charged, the government has postponed until April 1, 2008, the date to have the law banning sales of live fowls go into force. So deferred is the law forbidding sales of poultry not treated at authorized slaughterhouses.

"But in the next year or so," Wu went on, "bird flu may spread to Taiwan." "In other words, we are exposed to the threat of avian flu without sufficient countermeasures," he claimed. Su Jia-chyuan, chairman of the Council of Agriculture, admitted there are not enough authorized slaughterhouses in Taiwan.

Source: The China Post