COA hopes to rebuild foreign confidence in exports

To increase the competitiveness of agricultural products in global markets, NT$2.25 billion will be spent integrating production and marketing over the next three years, Council of Agriculture (COA) Chairman Lee Chin-lung (李金龍) said yesterday.

The legislature was examining a budget proposal presented by the council, and legislators from several political parties expressed similar concerns over negative impact on domestic agriculture that Taiwan's entry into the WTO has caused.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Shu-po (許舒博) expressed concern over the effect on local producers of falling prices.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Kuo-chung (鄭國忠) said that emergency measures adopted by the government to minimize the negative impact on farmers, such as offering subsidies and allowances, were insufficient to boost the competitiveness of domestic produce.

Responding these concerns, Lee said that a campaign promoting Taiwan's produce in global markets would be launched next year.

In order to integrate production and marketing, Lee said, the council would adopt a number of strategies to gather information, cultivate specialists in international trade, enhance product development, improve quarantine technology and promote Taiwan's produce.

Lee that the three-year project costing NT$2.25 million would help to expand markets in several centers including Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Japan and North America.

"We estimate that an expansion in exports yielding NT$6.5 billion might be created annually because of the campaign," Lee said.

Taking exports as an example, Lee said that Taiwan's agricultural produce remained competitive. The council's statistics suggested that produce exported in the first 10 months of the year posted pleasing growth rates, such as 7 percent for mangos, 41 percent for guavas, 200 percent for papayas and 57.6 percent for moth orchids.

DPP Tang Pi-o (唐碧娥) asked Lee about the emergency measures adopted by the council to restore Taiwan's reputation in Japan. Earlier this month, Japanese inspectors in Okinawa found excessive levels of sulfanilamide in a 600kg batch of live eels imported from Taiwan.

Lee that a three-week suspension of eel exports had been in place since last week. The council had also sent a delegation to Japan to deal with the matter, he said.

Meanwhile, the council's fisheries agency had introduced stricter checks on eels to ensure standards were being maintained, he added.

"The case involving the 600kg of eels was unusual. Most eel exports have the confidence of consumers," Lee said.

Lee that more effort would be directed toward dealing with Japan, which has been the largest market for Taiwan's agricultural products for many years.

Last year, 34 percent of the nation's agricultural exports, valued at NT$34.7 billion, was shipped to Japan.

Tuna, eel and soy beans were among the most important of these.

Starting produce from Taiwan was being displayed at the three-day Kansai International Food Exhibition in Osaka, Japan.

The council said that 45 Taiwanese food companies were promoting products such as fruit, beverages, tea, frozen food, seasonings and processed livestock products among others.

More 40,000 representatives from 300 food companies around the world were attending the exhibition.