The Council of Agriculture yesterday promised to more strictly examine seafood exports after the EU rejected 30 tonnes of fish and shrimp from Taiwan.
According to Chen Lu-hung (
Specifically, the EU said the seafood was contaminated with carcinogens such as chloramphenicol and toxic chemicals such as nitrofuran.
PHOTO: HUANG SHU-LI, TAIPEI TIMES
The seafood enterprises involved, many located in southern Taiwan, have been told by their trade associations to suspend business operations.
Officials from council's Fisheries Administration said yesterday they would closely work with the health department and the Bureau of Standards, Meteorology and Inspection to ensure the rejected produce is not sold to local markets.
"Meanwhile, we urge the fishery sector to obey the law in order to ensure the quality of Taiwanese seafood," said Wu Wei-shiun (
EU laws prohibit seafood imports containing any amount of chloramphenicol and nitrofuran. Taiwan enacted similar standards in 2001.
Taiwan produces about 350,000 tonnes of seafood a year worth NT$30 billion. About one-third of this is exported.
Wu said that the seafood had tested negative for chloramphenicol or nitrofuran in Taiwan but that the EU used different testing devices.
"Before the gap in technologies involving the examination of chemicals narrows, we will financially support the fisheries sector in having their products examined more comprehensively," Wu said.
Wu said Taiwan might consider buying European-made laboratory analytical equipment to improve the accuracy of tests for chemicals.
Wu said that there was also the possibility that Taiwanese seafood exporters were smuggling products from China that would therefore not be tested in Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration has been told to strengthen its efforts preventing such smuggling, he said.
A workshop will be held by the council in Kaohsiung today to educate representatives from seafood exporters, during which they will be urged not to process seafood from uncertain sources.
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