The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday announced that it would not abolish the 25-year-old Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification system because a recent opinion poll suggested the government should improve the system rather than scrap it.
“More than 80 percent of participants in a poll think the credibility of the GMP system has been tarnished by the adulterated cooking oil scandal, but nearly 80 percent think the system should not be abolished and should be improved,” Industrial Development Bureau Director-General Wu Ming-ji (吳明機) told a press conference.
About 80 percent of participants said they would regain confidence in the GMP system if independent experts and consumer representatives carry out the verification of food products, according to the poll.
Photo: CNA
Wu said the ministry reviewed the system with food manufacturers twice this month, adding that the companies also agreed that it is necessary for the system to remain.
The government plans to gradually reduce its involvement in the GMP system and allow the private sector or a third party to supervise the system, he said, adding that the ministry does not have a timetable or specific details about the adjustments.
Taiwan Food Good Manufacturing Practice Development Association director-general Bonnie Sun (孫寶年) told reporters that the association has proposed several ways to improve the system.
Sun said starting from next year, the association will inspect food manufacturers who wish to obtain GMP certifications for their products twice a year.
“One regular inspection and one random inspection will be carried out,” she said, adding that the association may also invite the John Tung Foundation or the Consumers’ Foundation to carry out random inspections.
The association is also considering to invite Safe Quality Food professional trainers from the US to visit Taiwan and train local food safety inspectors, Sun said.
“The GMP product verification process has to meet international standards,” she added.
Meanwhile, the National Development Council said that the adulterated cooking oil scandal may not affect the nation’s exports significantly after 11 countries halted imports of food products from Taiwan, but the issue does hurt the image of products made in Taiwan.
If the ban on Taiwanese food exports continues until the end of the year, it is estimated it would drag down exports by NT$2.3 billion (US$75.61 million) this year, National Development Council Minister Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei, citing Ministry of Economic Affairs statistics.
The figure is about 2.6 percent of the nation’s annual food exports, while domestic sales of food are likely to decline by NT$12 billion this year due to the scandal.
Nevertheless, the nation’s effort to promote products made in Taiwan has been jeopardized by the scandal, which is the greatest loss caused by the incident, Kuan said.
“Customers abroad might think there might be some problems with our other products as well,” Kuan said.
It might take a long time for the reputation of “Made in Taiwan” products to recover and first of all these products have to regain the onfidence of Taiwanese, he added.
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