The potential cost of losses for the nation’s food sector might reach NT$12.4 billion (US$407.62 million) this year, but that the figure could fall to NT$3 billion next year, Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍) said yesterday.
Duh said the series of adulterated oil scandals posed a greater impact on domestic demand than exports.
“The food sector might lose NT$10.2 billion domestically and NT$2.2 billion in exports,” he told the legislature’s Economics Committee.
Following the government’s determination to carry out new measures to ensure food safety, the food sector could face potential losses of NT$3 billion next year, as food manufacturers start to abide by the new rules, Duh said.
Duh said as there have been cases where Taiwanese food products are subjected to stricter border inspection in Japan and China, the government has been working to solve the issue.
“We proactively provided the list of tainted food products complied by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to customs officials, hoping they will inspect Taiwanese products in accordance with the list instead of holding all products at the border,” Duh said.
“Japanese customs officials accepted our suggestion,” he added.
The government has requested that Taiwanese representative officers offer the list to other countries and inform them that Taiwan is taking stricter measures on food safety, hoping to reduce the potential impact on the nation’s food exports, Duh said.
As some local retailers yesterday began to remove Nanchow Group (南僑集團) products from their shelves after news broke that the group might be using substandard ingredients in its oil products, Duh said that the company should offer an explanation and a public apology if it made a mistake.
Duh said previously that the government does not specifically manage the imports of oil products for industrial use, noting that the Cabinet has appointed the Ministry of Economic Affairs to manage imported oil products for industrial use and the Ministry of Health and Welfare to manage oil products for animal feed in the wake of the recent oil scandals.
“A detailed policy regarding different kinds of oil import management will be revealed by the end of November,” he added.
Meanwhile, Duh said he agrees that the assets of Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團) should be seized and its food factories registration canceled.
However, he said revoking Ting Hsin’s business license might have a negative impact on potential compensation issues.
Several lawmakers yesterday urged the government to detain former chairman of Wei Chuan Foods Corp (味全食品工業), Ting Hsin Oil and Fat Industrial Co (頂新製油實業) and Cheng I Food Co Ltd (正義), Wei Ying-chun (魏應充)
In response, Duh said that it was prosecutors’ jurisdiction to make such a decision, stressing that the government cannot intervene in the investigation.
In related news, Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) chairman William Wong (王文淵) yesterday said as there are many government departments responsible for safeguarding food safety, every one of them has to perform its function to prevent tainted oil entering the market.
Nonetheless, Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) chairman Douglas Hsu (徐旭東) said a certain level of corporate self-management is inevitable because it is impossible for the government to tighten its grip and check every detail and manufacturing process, and there is no excuse for management level officials of these food companies using tainted oil to shirk their responsibility.
Far Eastern Group’s retail shops yesterday began to take down Ting Hsin and Wei Chuan products from their shelves, he said.
An Shin Food Services Co (安心食品) chairman Theodore Huang (黃茂雄) yesterday said the government and the nation’s food industry have to focus more on food traceability management.
“Building up consumer confidence is the most important issue now,” Huang said.
Additional reporting by Camaron Kao and Amy Su
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