How is live abalone food testing done, and why does it violate the Food Safety Act
First case this year! Live abalone from China was transported in violation of regulations without passing inspection, was stopped by the relevant authorities, and under the “Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation”, was sent by the Taoyuan City Health Bureau to the Food and Drug Administration for adjudication. If there is in fact illegal sale, the maximum fine will be 20 times the market price.
Liu Shaoyi, deputy captain of the Keelung Investigation Team of the Investigation and Prevention Branch of the Coast Guard Administration, said on the 24th that the task force had recently noticed that a seafood business in Kaohsiung was acting unreasonably, choosing to import 800 kg of live abalone from mainland China through Taipei Port, which has higher transport costs, and suspected that it might be delivered along the route from north to south. Therefore, together with units including the Food and Drug Administration and the Food and Drug Management Section of the Taoyuan City Government Health Bureau, they conducted an investigation, and indeed this batch of live abalone that had not yet passed inspection was moved in violation of regulations. Fortunately, it did not enter the market.
Liu Shaoyi explained that after fresh food enters customs, because inspection takes more than 3 days, the customs storage conditions for the goods may not meet the operators' needs. Therefore, operators may apply for "release in advance against a written undertaking", placing the goods first in a designated cold storage location under seal, and after passing inspection and obtaining an import compliance certificate, they may unseal and transport them to another location. In this case, the operator did not send the live abalone to the location registered for "release in advance against a written undertaking", and part of it was transported to a warehouse in Dayuan District, Taoyuan City for storage. Therefore, the task force, together with the Food and Drug Administration and the Taoyuan City Health Bureau, went to inspect on site and seized 174.98 kg of live abalone, which violated the Food Safety Act by moving live abalone that had not passed inspection without authorization.
Huang Shuhui, a technical specialist in the Food and Drug Management Section of the Taoyuan City Health Bureau, said that because the storage location was in Taoyuan City, they recently cooperated with the Coast Guard Administration task force and the Food and Drug Administration to assist in the investigation. The operator claimed it was temporary storage. Because the entire case has been transferred to the Food and Drug Administration, whether the operator's violation of the "release in advance against a written undertaking" regulations will result in suspension, or the determination of the fact of sale, will be adjudicated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The Keelung Investigation Team of the Investigation and Prevention Branch of the Coast Guard Administration called on the public not to smuggle or sell uninspected agricultural and fishery products, so as not to break the law and endanger the safety and health of the people. If the public discovers illegal matters, they can use the 188 Coast Guard service hotline at any time to report illegal activity and together safeguard domestic food safety.
