The Democratic Progressive Party vowed all-out efforts to organize a massive protest in Taipei Saturday against what it called U.S. “toxic” beef imports, ahead of a legislative meeting next week for revising food laws to addressing the controversy.

The DPP claimed that Ma and the ruling Kuomintang are trying to adopt a revision that seems to enable a “technical ban” on high-risk U.S. beef parts, but in fact will give the imports unrestricted access to the Taiwan market.

If the KMT version is adopted on Tuesday's legislative meeting, the DPP will take further actions, said the opposition party's spokesman Tsai Chih-chang.

Meanwhile, Ma invited top Cabinet officials and KMT lawmakers to a lunch meeting to discuss the direction for revising the food laws.

Ma, stressing that the risk of contracting mad cow disease by eating U.S. beef is extremely low, said the government will make sure that administrative measures will be in place to block high-risk imports from the Taiwan market.

The government gives top priority to people's health, but the measures will not violate the principles of international trade, the president said.

He also denied that there was an exchange deal behind the signing of an agreement to allow imports from the United States of bone-in-beef, organs and minced meat.

Lawmakers from across all party lines have reacted strongly to the agreement, accusing the administration of risking the people's health.

The Legislature has adopted a resolution seeking to revise the food law to prevent imports of high-risk U.S. beef parts.

The DPP caucus has proposed a revision stipulating a ban on imports of bovine skulls, brains, eyes, and ground beef from nations of areas affected by mad cow disease.

But a KMT lawmaker has proposed another version authorizing the government to work out measures to inspect beef products from areas where the risk of mad cow disease has been put under control.

The DPP said the KMT lawmaker's version does not even bother to stipulate that such beef products could be banned from being imported into Taiwan.

If such a version is adopted, it will be even worse than the original law, the DPP said.