Many are wondering if they might have ingested some of the toxic milk powder imported from China. The Taiwanese branch of Fonterra Ltd imported 25 tonnes of tainted milk powder packaged into 1,000 packs from Sanlu, China’s biggest producer of milk powder, in June. The milk powder, which contained the toxic additive melamine, was used as an additive in processed foods and sold by 10 distributors in nine counties. This has caused a lot of fear and concern as the powder was used to make moon cakes, bread, pudding and milk tea.
China is well known for inferior products. Better known cases include the toxic dumplings that were exported to Japan. This incident caused a huge uproar there, with the Japanese parliament even setting up a special task group to determine official responsibility for the food scare.
In March last year, more than 4,000 cats and dogs in several Western countries died after eating wheat and rice gluten containing melamine imported from China.
In July this year, an investigation was started in China’s Gansu Province to find out what was causing kidney stones in infants. It was discovered that all of those infants stones had ingested Sanlu milk powder. However, the Chinese government covered up this issue to avoid spoiling its image during the Beijing Olympic Games.
Because of the proximity of Taiwan to China and the similarities in language and dietary habits, many food products are imported or smuggled into Taiwan. I believe the following measures would be helpful in establishing a more comprehensive system to protect the rights of Taiwanese consumers.
Consumers International (CI) and the WHO should utilize their existing networks to establish an international Web site for reporting food products unfit for human consumption. With such a mechanism, countries around the world could report questionable food products to the CI and the WHO as soon as they discover them. Once these organizations find problems with the products, they could notify countries, which would help in lowering the extent to which consumers are hurt by substandard food products.
Had such a system existed, the CI and the WHO could have issued warnings when it was discovered that the infants in Gansu Province developed kidney stones after ingesting Sanlu’s milk powder. This would dramatically decrease the number of people harmed by unsafe food products. Taiwanese consumer groups and the Department of Health could suggest the establishment of such a system to CI and the WHO.
Government agencies should also re-examine which Chinese food products should be tested and which standards should be used during the tests to help ensure consumer health and safety. Inspection should also be strengthened. When necessary, the government could commission private quarantine and inspection organizations to carry out testing.
In addition, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait should collaborate on establishing a grievance platform and service points for dealing with problems with Chinese products.
In cases where consumers incur losses, they should be able to send the product in question to the importer as evidence to claim compensation. Importers should be duty-bound to compensate those who have incurred losses as a result of their products and should do so in a sincere manner.
The importer of Sanlu milk powder can also legally ask for compensation for itself and its consumers from Sanlu based on regulations such as guarantees against defective products. The SEF could assist the importer in doing so.
The Control Yuan should investigate quality controls used by the authorities when they approved the importation of Sanlu milk powder and find out who is responsible. The investigation should look into issues such as which items were tested, which testing methods were used, where the milk powder has gone after the scandal, whether the information given on the case is correct and whether the importers brought in the product and labeled them simply as “milk powder” instead of “Sanlu milk powder.” Those found to be negligent should be removed from their jobs.
Consumers have the right to demand safe products, know the truth, express their opinion and seek compensation for losses. With companies increasing production and selling these products around the world, we hope this incident can help spur the formation of a more complete system for protecting consumer rights and the health and safety of consumers.
Li Shen-yi is a lawyer and an honorary chairman of the Consumers’ Foundation.
RANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
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