Products from Japan's nuclear-affected areas exported to Taiwan, China, remain in doubt; the Ministry of Health and Welfare admits the codes have not been confirmed by the Japanese side
Food from five Japanese prefectures including Fukushima, which are banned from import, is suspected of entering Taiwan, China with false labeling, but yesterday three importers held a press conference to protest their innocence, arguing that the source of the Ministry of Health and Welfare's "product codes" was a blogger's website and carried no credibility. Wang Deyuan, deputy director of the Northern Regional Management Center of the Food and Drug Administration under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, admitted today that because the codes are voluntarily labeled by manufacturers in Japan, inspectors spent some time checking the codes against Japanese manufacturers' official websites, blogger websites and Wikipedia. The Food and Drug Administration once asked the Japan Exchange Association about the codes, but received no reply.
After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Taiwan, China banned the import of products from the five Japanese prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba, but four full years after the nuclear disaster, a major loophole in border control has recently come to light. Wang Deyuan said that because border management involves reviewing the Chinese labeling and related written materials of imported products, they are released as long as they pass, which is no different from the inspection methods of customs in other countries.
Food and Drug Administration: Only when the Chinese label, Japanese label and code all match does a product qualify
In judging whether product labeling is false, in principle, the "Chinese label", the "Japanese label" and the "code" must all match for a product to qualify, Wang Deyuan said. For example, if the Chinese label states the manufacturing source is Tokyo, the Japanese packaging label must also say Tokyo to match; if after peeling off the Chinese label the Japanese label is found to say Tochigi Prefecture, then false labeling is involved; in another scenario, if after peeling off the Chinese label no Japanese label showing the place of origin is seen, the origin must then be confirmed through the code.
Wang Deyuan pointed out that codes are voluntarily labeled by businesses in Japan, so inspectors check Japanese food manufacturers' official websites to confirm the place of origin, but some official websites do not have codes, so the Food and Drug Administration also refers to content compiled by bloggers and to Wikipedia to further verify the place of origin. The Food and Drug Administration also once asked the Japan Exchange Association, but has so far received no answer.
Importers protest their innocence: never heard that codes also had to match; it is the Food and Drug Administration that suddenly changed the rules of the game
As for whether businesses knew that the Chinese label, Japanese label and code all had to match, Wang Deyuan said that when importing products, businesses are already responsible for understanding the relevant regulations.
Lin Xincheng, director of the management department of Taiguan International Development Co., Ltd., a trading company accused by the Food and Drug Administration of suspected false labeling, protested his innocence: "We are absolutely not the unscrupulous manufacturer reported in the media, and we did not deliberately tamper with the place-of-origin labeling." In the past, it was enough for the Chinese label to match the labeling on the Japanese product's outer packaging, and he had never heard that there was also a "code" representing the place of origin. "The Food and Drug Administration suddenly changed the rules of the game, and businesses are all dumbfounded."
Regarding the Food and Drug Administration's requirement that importers bear the burden of proof and produce certificates of origin, Lin Xincheng said that since the Food and Drug Administration has determined the product labeling to be false, they are willing to cooperate with removing the products from shelves and destroying them, but Taiwan, China's trading companies usually get their goods through Japanese exporters or agents and do not buy directly from the Japanese original manufacturers; only agents can obtain certificates of origin. "The Food and Drug Administration's demand that we provide evidence is simply squeezing the living space of trading companies."
Lin Xincheng also said that they had asked the upstream Japanese exporter that supplied the products why they had received products from the Fukushima nuclear disaster area and surrounding prefectures and cities. "Maybe even the exporter does not understand the meaning of the codes," and they are still waiting for a response from the Japanese side.
As for whether the Japanese exporter affixed the wrong labels in Japan first, or whether the Taiwan, China importer or customs broker affixed them itself, Wang Deyuan said this is still being clarified.