The recent incidents of people falling ill or dying from using bootleg rice wine is reminiscent of the rampant bootlegging of sorghum wine 20 years ago. At that time, the moonshine blinded a young associate professor at National Chiao Tung University. The incident slowed sorghum wine sales for more than two years.
But the harm caused by bootleg rice wine this time is unprecedented. The public is demanding a government crackdown on bootlegging. However, according to market principles, the effect of a government crackdown will be limited if rice wine manufactured by legal brewers cannot attract consumers. Bootlegging, on the other hand, is easy, highly profitable and is popular with consumers. Such a situation results in bootleggers being protected by the public, just as the English robber Robin Hood was. Enforcing the law in this way cannot succeed and will cause the public to lose faith in government authority.
To eliminate bootlegging, the government should consider several things.
First, it should appreciate that rice wine is not used in the same way as other alcoholic beverages. Countries around the world as well as international conventions stipulate relatively high taxes for alcoholic beverages, especially those with high alcohol levels. The high taxes are more or less aimed at preventing the spread of alcoholism.
However, rice wine is used far more as a seasoning in cooking and a tonic than as an alcoholic beverage, with a few exceptions. To levy taxes on rice wine in the same way as on other liquors -- according to their alcohol levels -- was a mistake. The government must work to remove obstacles and lower the tax on rice wine. This will lower the costs of legal brewing and help brewers beat the bootleggers.
After opening the liquor industry to the private sector, the government has the responsibility to guarantee people's business rights. Lowering taxes on rice wine, thereby allowing legal private brewers to survive, is therefore a responsibility of the government as stipulated by law.
Next, the government should further liberalize licensing for brewers. The public needs large amounts of rice wine and in theory larger plants can lower manufacturing costs. Consumers will benefit from having more brewers competing in the market. However, private brewers have to deal with a great deal of red tape. Only a very small number of private companies have obtained brewing licenses. Such a bureaucratic way of liberalization may be aimed at preventing irregularities and getting brewers to meet strict hygiene and environmental standards.
However, brewing is an industry that does not require a high level of technology. Otherwise, humanity would not have developed highly refined brewing cultures in the Bronze Age. Brewing is easy to learn. The Taiwan government's strict licensing for brewers is a leftover of the mono-poly system dating back to the Japanese era.
In contrast, Western societies have hundreds of thousands of grape-wine brewers. There are 70,000 small-scale brewers in Germany alone. These countries demand the same requirements of brewers as they do of other drinks manufacturers. If fake wine can be produced, fake cola can as well. There is no need to view brewers as a scourge.
I support the free establishment of breweries, but local governments should set up "wine controllers" like those in Germany, who monitor the brewers' products and see that they meet hygiene and labeling standards.
Taiwan should rebuild a world-class brewing culture. Eighty years of monopoly on tobacco and liquor has ruined the nation's brewing culture. In the past, the Shaohsing (
Now that the government has abolished the monopoly on wine and tobacco, the nation should enter an era of "wine renais-sance," allowing people well-versed in the culinary arts to develop their brewing skills, while also salvaging the farming villages that are now in their death throes.
I hope to see a large variety of local beverages that emphasize brand name, style and local specialty. This will create a boom in the brewing culture and bring a refreshing experience to the international beverages market.
Chen Shin-min is a research fellow at the Institute of Sociology at Academia Sinica.
Translated by Francis Huang
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