[The Epoch Times, June 11, 2022](Reported by Epoch Times reporter Zhong Yuan in Taipei) In response to the CCP’s sudden announcement on the 10th that it would ban TaiwangrouperInput, Executive Yuan of the Republic of ChinaCommittee of AgricultureChairmanChen JizhongToday (11th) criticized the CCP for repeatedly failing to conform to international norms, and announced the launch of three major measures to protect the rights and interests of Taiwanese fishermen.
On the evening of June 10, the General Administration of Customs of the Communist Party of China notified thegrouperTwo batches of recessive crystal violet were detected exceeding the standard, and the import of grouper will be suspended from the 13th.
Executive Yuan of the Republic of ChinaCommittee of AgricultureToday, a press conference was held on “In response to China’s unilateral suspension of my country’s grouper importation, the Agricultural Committee adopts relevant measures to protect the rights and interests of fishermen.”Chen JizhongHe said that on the evening of the 10th, he received a message from the CCP that it would unilaterally suspend the import of Taiwanese grouper into mainland China from the 13th. This has happened once more and once more.
Chen Jizhong pointed out that all the regulations in the world are aimed at excessive use of pesticides in the agriculture, fishery and livestock industries. At most, pesticides exceeding the standard are prohibited from being imported or returned. All products are not directly prohibited from being imported. It is clear that the CCP violates relevant international trade. specification. The quality of grouper in Taiwan is very good. In the past 2019 and 2020, no similar drug use has been detected. Last year, although the CCP notified that it had been tested three to four times in total, “We immediately traced it on the production side, and found nothing similar. We will also respond specifically to the situation.”
In response to the CCP’s failure to follow international norms to target agricultural, fishery and livestock products from both sides of the Taiwan Strait once more, he said, “We will once once more provide all the scientific evidence to mainland China through the animal and plant quarantine channels on both sides of the Taiwan Strait in the near future. Taiwan’s grouper is re-exported, I hope the CCP can respond positively as soon as possible, if there is no (response), we will not rule out a complaint to the Food Safety Inspection and Animal and Plant Quarantine (SPS) Committee of the World Trade Organization (WTO).”
Chen Jizhong said that 6,121 metric tons of grouper were exported to mainland China last year, accounting for 36% of the total output. By the end of May this year, 3,059 metric tons of grouper were exported to mainland China and Hong Kong. The target will handle 3,600 metric tons, which should be concretely addressed. Because the CCP announced that it would ban the import of Taiwan pineapples from March last year, the total output of pineapples was 400,000 metric tons, and 45,000 metric tons were exported to China. question”.
The Agricultural Council of the Republic of China stated that when the residues in international trade of agricultural products were found to exceed the standard, most of the products were returned or destroyed in principle. The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration carried out border inspections of agricultural products. If the residue of malachite green, which is used for standing fish, exceeds the standard, the batch of goods will also be returned or destroyed. China’s practice violates international trade border inspection practices and WTO SPS norms.
The Council of Agriculture stated that in recent years, the Council has joined hands with the local government, and following measures such as correct drug use publicity and monitoring of the origin of unlisted aquatic products, groupers have rarely detected unqualified drug use in the market. Since this year, the monitoring of unlisted aquatic products has been included in the crystal violet inspection. According to the announcement by the Food and Drug Administration on March 16, the quantitative limit for laboratory detection of crystal violet/reduced crystal violet is 0.5ppb. Check out.
The Council of Agriculture further stated that the annual output of grouper in Taiwan in 2021 will be regarding 17,000 metric tons. The main production areas are Pingtung (40%), Kaohsiung (25%) and Tainan (25%). 3:2. After the suspension of imports from mainland China, the Agriculture Committee has prepared relevant measures to assist the industry, and launched all domestic and export sales to emerging markets to protect the rights and interests of fishermen.
First, guide fishermen to delay listing, provide feed subsidies and low-interest loans and other measures, with a target of 1,000 metric tons.
Second, strengthen promotions on e-commerce platforms to encourage consumers to purchase, increase domestic demand and purchase volume, with a target of 1,600 metric tons to stabilize grouper prices.
Third, incentive measures for processing, frozen storage and export sales, with a target of 1,000 metric tons, diversifying the market supply and strengthening sales in overseas markets. In potential markets, counseling operators cooperate with local department stores, supermarkets, restaurants and other channels to handle sales expansion activities, and provide overseas sales expansion incentives, so as to reduce the high cost of export operators due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, and increase the number of export sales.
The Agriculture Committee pointed out that in order to stabilize domestic production and sales, a complete response will be launched, and fishermen should rest assured. The Agriculture Committee emphasized that in order to ensure the safety of eating fish, Taiwanese farmed fish will continue to monitor the origin of unlisted aquatic products, expand the education and training on drug management, and cooperate with the origin to hire aquatic veterinarians to provide services to ensure the absolute safety of domestic aquatic products. Please feel free to consume domestic aquatic products.
Responsible editor: Ye Ziwei
