Namchow Chemical Industrial Co (南僑化學工業) was fined NT$30 million (US$1 million) by Taipei City Government’s Department of Health yesterday for evading cargo inspections on imported oil.
The firm had falsely reported imported oil as industrial-grade, avoiding the rigorous inspection procedures required for edible oils, the department said.
Later yesterday, Namchow chairman Alfred Chen (陳飛龍) held a press conference after the alleged false declarations were made public by the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Taoyuan County Government.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Chen admitted the group did make mistakes in its declarations of imported non-edible fat and oil products and would accept the administrative fines by the government.
Chen said the group would not claim national compensation, despite “feeling wronged” that its food products had been subject to a precautionary recall.
He said that the products are totally safe for cooking and consumption, and that he expected the government to allow sales of the products to resume as soon as possible.
Chen said the company did not intentionally declare edible fats and oils as non-edible ones, as it would not do anything illegal on purpose just to cut costs.
The case falls within the jurisdiction of the Taipei City Government because the company is registered in the capital.
“After going over the documentation provide by Nanchow, we’ve verified that a portion of the firms’ oil imports were registered incorrectly,” Taipei Department of Health Commissioner Lin Chi-hung (林奇宏) said, adding that there were 30 individual cases of incorrect registrations.
Based on the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), the department would fine the firm NT$1 million per case, a total fine of NT$30 million, he said.
Namchow has imported 12 shipments of beef tallow from Australia, and 34 shipments of coconut oil and three shipments of palm oil from the Philippines since last year, Lin said.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare demanded that Namchow present official certification from the countries of origin of the imported oils to prove they were fit for human consumption.
Namchow later presented official documents that it said proved that the products were safe for human consumption.
Early yesterday, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) said that the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry confirmed that the beef tallow imported by Namchow was edible.
However, more information on Namchow’s imports from the Philippines was still needed, Lin told a meeting at the legislature.
According to a report by the Central News Agency from Manila yesterday evening, the Philippine Department of Agriculture has confirmed the authenticity of the documents presented to the FDA by Namchow.
Additional reporting by CNA
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