Council of Agriculture denies that CAS is hard on the Homemakers United Foundation; Chen Man-li says it is purely a communication misunderstanding
The Taiwan Agricultural Standards Association (abbreviated CAS) recently held elections for the members of its 9th board of directors and supervisors, and invited Chen Man-li, standing supervisor of the Homemakers United Foundation Environmental Protection Fund, to serve as the consumer group representative. However, when CAS recently convened the first joint meeting of the board of directors and supervisors of that term, Chen Man-li pointed out during the meeting that CAS should not hastily push through overseas business via a temporary motion, and afterward she received a "warning to leave" from a CAS director. The Homemakers United Foundation urgently posted a press release last night to express its protest. In response, an official from the Council of Agriculture said it was purely a misunderstanding and called on both sides to communicate clearly as soon as possible.
CAS: Chen Man-li is still one of the new directors, and the dispute is purely a misunderstanding
To help CAS transform, the Council of Agriculture required the members of CAS's 9th board of directors to add 2 representatives from consumer groups and channel operators. CAS therefore approached the Homemakers United Foundation and PX Mart respectively to designate suitable candidates, and it was finally confirmed that the consumer group representative would be Chen Man-li.
On July 7, when CAS held the joint meeting, Chen Man-li arrived 1 hour late because she had a prior engagement. By the time she arrived, the board of directors and supervisors had just begun discussing temporary motions, one of which was that CAS wanted to establish "Taiwan Global Excellent Agricultural Products Marketing Co., Ltd." to help promote CAS agricultural products to Mainland China. Chen Man-li said that because she believed this proposal was very important and should be discussed with the Council of Agriculture before further discussion, she frequently raised her hand to speak during the meeting.
Chen Man-li said that she and a CAS director later met again because they were from the same hometown, and she never expected that the director would say to her: "CAS invited the wrong person. You are an environmental group; they are looking for another organization." The director advised her to leave. She never expected that a few days later, the CAS deputy chief executive would actually ask the Homemakers United Foundation in return: "Why would Chen Man-li voluntarily resign as a director?" Chen Man-li therefore wrote the article "I Was Asked to Leave CAS" to explain the whole matter.
CAS also urgently issued a press release today stressing that Chen Man-li is still one of CAS's new directors, and that they also sent a document to the Council of Agriculture on the 23rd to explain the matter. CAS chief executive Yang Tsung-hsien said that perhaps because it was their first contact, there were some misunderstandings about views on certain events and the operation of meetings, and the association would continue to communicate and persuade Chen Man-li to stay.
The proposal to establish a company to promote certified products to China has been postponed
Regarding CAS's wish to establish a company to help promote certified agricultural products to Mainland China, CAS said that every year the government spends a great deal of effort and cost on promotion and advertising at commercial exhibitions in the mainland to introduce Taiwan's excellent agricultural products, yet there is no platform to help operators smoothly export and sell their products, so the association hoped to establish a company. However, because the directors and supervisors suggested that the proposal was a major one, the case has now been postponed.
Wang Chung-shu, deputy director-general of the Council of Agriculture's Department of Animal Industry, also said that this matter was entirely an internal communication issue. If the process was only due to the opinion of one director, then it should have been a misunderstanding, and both sides should explain the problem clearly as soon as possible. He stressed that since CAS would invite the Homemakers United Foundation to participate, it should understand the issues and nature advocated by the Homemakers United Foundation, and there should have been no intention of deliberately asking them to leave.
In response, Chen Man-li admitted that CAS has a total of 25 board seats, but manufacturers and channel operators occupy 13 of them, giving them great influence, and the term lasts as long as 3 years and can be renewed through re-election and re-appointment. She must carefully consider whether she can make a contribution within the organization.
