The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday that it has been able to track only half of the waste cooking oil that was produced in the nation in the past two years.
Amid a food scare over recycled oil, EPA Deputy Minister Chang Tzi-chin (張子敬) said the agency’s 2007 inventory, conducted in line with the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ biodiesel policy, found that between 70,000 tonnes and 80,000 tonnes of waste cooking oil is produced annually in the nation.
More recently, it said, the volume was about 28,000 tonnes last year and roughly 24,000 tonnes in the first eight months of this year. This amount, added to the 10,000 tonnes that were exported, means only half the total has been accounted for, Chang said.
He said that according to the existing regulations, waste cooking oil businesses that have a certain level of capital and revenue are required to file an online report on the flow of their products.
It is estimated that 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of waste cooking oil is produced by vendors and small shops that do not fall under that regulation, he added.
Chang said he hopes to obtain information within a week about the flow of waste cooking oil from night markets.
Meanwhile, Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍) said that the recent food safety issue of lard-based cooking oil being adulterated with recycled oil has caused “incalculable” damage to the reputation of the nation’s food industry. In addition, the industry has suffered estimated losses of NT$5 billion (US$166 million) in revenue as a result of the food scare, he said.
However, Hsu Chih-chiang (徐之強), a professor at National Central University, said the food scare will have limited effects on the economy because the lard industry accounts for only a fraction of the nation’s GDP.
The impact on the upstream and downstream supply chain will also be minimal, he added.
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
There have been clear signs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to interfere in the nationwide recall vote on July 26 in support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators facing recall, an unnamed government official said, warning about possible further actions. The CCP is actively involved in Taiwanese politics, and interference in the recall vote is to be expected, with multiple Chinese state media and TAO attempts to discredit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and undermine public support of their recall movement, the official said. This interference includes a smear campaign initiated this month by a pro-Beijing Hong Kong news outlet against
A week-long exhibition on modern Tibetan history and the Dalai Lama’s global advocacy opened yesterday in Taipei, featuring quotes and artworks highlighting human rights and China’s ongoing repression of Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Uighurs. The exhibition, the first organized by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT), is titled “From the Snowy Ridges to the Ocean of Wisdom.” “It would be impossible for Tibetans inside Tibet to hold an exhibition like this — we can do it. because we live in a free and democratic country,” HRNTT secretary-general Tashi Tsering said. Tashi Tsering, a Taiwan-based Tibetan who has never
A first shipment of five tons of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 (US$20,500) placed with a company in the city. The products, including frozen whole fish and pre- cooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor, where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction. At the launch, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market. Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in
RSS