The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham) yesterday called for the government to reconsider amendments to the Act Governing Food Sanitation (食品衛生管理法), saying the new labeling regulations may cause harm to both food companies and consumers.
“If the law remains in its current form, it would affect the operations of both international and local Taiwanese food companies and could lead to consumers facing higher prices and/or less choice,” AmCham officials said in a statement.
The statement came as the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s newly amended food sanitation regulations requiring the listing of flavoring ingredients on the packaging of food products have reportedly irritated many foreign companies, as they demand both local and foreign food manufacturers to disclose flavors used in ingredients for their food products.
Local media reported earlier this week that the new revisions could expose global brands such as Coca-Cola Co to the risk of leaking their secret formula and might force them to pull out of Taiwan’s market because of the new regulations.
“Requiring the full disclosure of flavors used in ingredients would violate the trade secrets of the flavor suppliers and food and beverage companies and is against international industry practice,” AmCham said in the statement.
“Since production is frequently outsourced to OEM manufacturers, requiring the full disclosure of the name and contact information of the production plant is impractical, against international industry practice and compliance may force food companies to violate commercial agreements,” AmCham said.
“Disclosure of the local responsible business should be sufficient reference for consumers,” it added.
AmCham said it had not heard from its member companies regarding any intention to reduce their presence in Taiwan. However, the association said in the statement that respondents to its recent business sentiment survey had expressed dissatisfaction with bureaucratic obstacles to healthy business operations.
The survey, released on Thursday last week, also showed respondents expressed their demand for the government to provide greater consistency in regulatory interpretations, as well as the need to adhere to the rule of law and maintain transparency in the regulatory process. Coca-Cola said on Wednesday it was communicating with the relevant authorities and will not easily pull out of Taiwan because of new labeling regulations. It said the disclosure of flavoring ingredients is not in line with international practices in the food industry.
Additional reporting by CNA
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last