Consumers of selected Taiwanese teas will now be able to trace the path their tea took from the farm to their cup through the Taiwan Agriculture and Food Traceability System (TAFT).
"By typing the identifying barcode into the TAFT Web site, consumers will be able to access information such as where their tea was grown, when it was harvested and what pesticides and herbicides, if any, were used to produce it," said Kuo Chung-chin (郭聰欽), the executive officer of the Integrated Agricultural Development Foundation. "We are going to address consumer concerns by making production processes completely transparent."
In addition to the production information, consumers will also be able to see pictures of the farms where the tea was grown and the farmers who grew it. Other products already on the market under the TAFT system include Taiwanese fruits and rice. All products in the scheme are identified by a distinctive scannable sticker.
According to Kuo, Taiwanese agricultural produce has been plagued by pesticide and herbicide residue issues both at home and abroad.
"Consumer confidence can be shattered by just a few reports of possibly harmful produce," Kuo said. "By doing a better job of documenting our agricultural practices, we will be able to isolate the source of tainted produce and protect the producers who are playing by the rules."
Production records are also important when it comes to exporting Taiwanese produce abroad.
"The already-strict standards for agricultural imports in Japan are set to be raised even higher in 2008. A good `production resume' will become necessary to export there," said Chen Hsuan (
According to Chen, Taiwan exports around 4,000 tonnes of tea from a total production of 20,000 tonnes annually. Taiwan mostly exports high-quality Oolong teas to Japan, with niche markets in Europe and the US. However, the Taiwanese are such voracious tea drinkers that Taiwan is almost a net importer of tea.
"We import a little less than 20,000 tonnes of lower-quality tea from countries such as Vietnam," Chen said. "Those cheaper leaves are used in bottled teas, flavored teas and other low-end applications."
There were widespread fears that cheap teas from China would threatened Taiwanese producers, Chen said, but a burgeoning Chinese domestic market fueled by the rapidly expanding economy there has absorbed almost all the supply.
"We export teas to China," said Chen, adding that good quality Taiwanese Ti Kuan Yin tea can fetch 1,000 yuan (US$127) for 500g.
"If you divide the quantity of tea leaves grown for the domestic market and imported by the population, the average Taiwanese consumes 1.6kg of tea annually," Chen said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS