Fewer and fewer violations found in the number of Japanese products banned from import to Taiwan, China? The Ministry of Health and Welfare: After verification, the confirmed figure is 286 items.
Foods from five Japanese prefectures including Fukushima, whose import is banned, are suspected of entering Taiwan, China with false labels indicating their place of origin, yet the number of products seized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare is getting smaller and smaller, dropping from 294 items yesterday to 292, and now to 286 today. Wang Deyuan, deputy director of the Northern Regional Management Center of the Food and Drug Administration under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said that after verification, 7 products did not come from the five prefectures, and 2 of them were duplicates. One product from a newly added company, "Wangsheng Trading Co., Ltd.," was also included, bringing the number of importers under investigation to 13.
(Latest list as of 0326 http://goo.gl/Q5tk6Y)
The Food and Drug Administration held a press conference today to update the progress of the inspection. Wang Deyuan said that yesterday the Food and Drug Administration, together with the Taipei City Government Department of Health, inspected the importer "Wangsheng Trading Co., Ltd." and found that one product, "Kababu Pudding Chocolate Cup," had an origin code of Ibaraki.
Among the products currently submitted for testing, 333 items did not exceed radiation limits, but outsiders question whether the number of products sent for radiation testing matches the number of falsely labeled products seized. Wang Deyuan said that at present any suspected problematic product is sent to the Atomic Energy Council for testing, and operators are strictly required to remove them from shelves as a precaution. Whether the labels are actually false will be further confirmed later, and at present he is not clear how many products have been sent for radiation testing.
As for products that may have been mistakenly targeted, Wang Deyuan said operators can ask the health bureaus of each county and city to lift the seal; but if false labeling is suspected and the operator refuses to admit fault, the operator must take the initiative to provide evidence, obtain a certificate of origin from Japan, and appeal to the health bureau; if it is confirmed that a Japanese manufacturer pasted false labels, the Ministry of Health and Welfare will protest through diplomatic channels.
Wang Deyuan said that importing products from the five Japanese prefectures already violates Article 4, Paragraph 5 of the "Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation," and operators making false import declarations also violate Article 30, Paragraph 1, and may be fined between NT$30,000 and NT$3 million.
List of items suspected of coming from the five Japanese prefectures whose import is banned, March 26, 2015 (Republic of China year 104) http://goo.gl/Q5tk6Y