Print

Mail

wiki links

Lawmakers call for more scrutiny of imported teas

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday called for stricter quality control for imported teas from Vietnam and China.

Their request came on the heels of recent discoveries showing that importers may have been repackaging imported teas as teas that purported to be manufactured in Taiwan.

The companies involved in this scheme are suspected of having made huge profits by selling them at a lower retail price than the local tea.

DPP Legislator Tang Huo-shen (湯火聖) said Taiwan imported 25,517 tonnes of teas from Vietnam and China last year, accounting for more than 80 percent of the entire imported teas.

Most of these imports came with a certificate of authenticity provided by the third-country manufacturer.

Tang added that even though substantial quantities of teas from China and Vietnam were imported, consumers nowadays would have a difficult time finding products identifying them as such, as their labels will have been changed to Taiwan.

He said that importers may have carried out illegal finagling before selling the tea to local consumers.

repackaging

Imported tea is generally available to local retailers at a selling price of NT$25 per 600g, Tang said.

But retailers can then repackage it as "Taiwan Tea" and sell it at a markup price of NT$300 per 600g.

The scheme has whittled away at local tea farmers' competitiveness, as the cost of their teas can at times exceed NT$600 per 600g.

fooling customs

Tang added that importers often deliberately placed cases of imported green tea on top of imported oolong tea inside cargo containers to fool customs inspectors into believing they are importing green tea.

The custom tax for green tea is lower than that for oolong.

Hsu Hang-ching (許漢卿), director of the agriculture and food agency at the Council of Agriculture, said a 17 percent custom tax is charged on imported green tea, whereas that on imported oolong tea is 20 percent.

pesticide residues

Meanwhile, the issue of pesticide residues in teas from these countries has not been adequately addressed, a situation which might endanger public health.

Although a WTO entry agreement has made it impossible for the nation to bar products from entering the country, Tang and other DPP lawmakers have requested that the government reinforce its inspection efforts.

David Cheng (鄭慧文), director of the bureau of food safety at the Department of Health, said the bureau sampled 25 percent of imported teas last year.

No case of pesticide residues was found, he said.

He added, nevertheless, that the government was scheduled to implement a new policy by January next year, whereby importers will be required to label the country of origin on their products.
This story has been viewed 1445 times.