Academics and Hiwin Technologies Corp (上銀科技) have developed a new technique to extend the shelf life of lychees to 30 days.
Lychees exported to Japan and South Korea previously underwent vapor treatment to eliminate pests, which darkened and dried the fruit’s skin and made it less attractive, Taichung-based Hiwin said, adding that the new technique it has developed with National Chung Hsing University horticulture professors Hsieh Ching-chang (謝慶昌) and Lin Hui-ling (林慧玲) can help keep the fruit fresh, as it retains its moisture for 30 days.
At an event on Monday marking the export of nearly 1,500 boxes of lychees treated with the new technique, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the new process allows the fruit to be exported fresh, calling it a testament to Taiwanese agriculture’s global competitiveness.
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Taipei Times
It is great that local businesses have collaborated to boost the nation’s agricultural diplomacy, she said, calling on Hiwin to license the technique to other municipalities.
Bananas, pineapples, mangoes and lychees are the nation’s primary fruit exports to Japan, although banana exports have fallen, Council of Agriculture data showed.
Japan imports more than 1 million tonnes of bananas each year, of which 90 percent is from the Philippines and only 1 percent from Taiwan, the council said.
Photo provided by Hiwin Technologies Corp
Taiwan’s shrinking contribution to Japan’s fruit imports can be attributed to several factors, including Tokyo’s cancelation of a generalized system of preferences for Taiwan in April 2000 and Taipei’s increase of banana export tariffs from 10 percent and 20 percent to 20 percent and 25 percent, it said.
Japan imposes tariffs of 5 percent, 3 percent and 17 percent on Taiwanese lychees, mangoes and pineapples respectively, while Taiwanese bananas are subject to a 20 percent tariff from April to September and 25 percent from October to March.
The Philippines and Japan in 2006 signed an economic partnership agreement, which lowered the tariff on Philippine bananas from 9.1 percent to 5.5 percent. That tariff dropped to zero after Japan signed a free-trade agreement with ASEAN.
Taiwan’s lack of cooling systems to extend the shelf life of fruits the main obstacle for exports, council Department of International Affairs Deputy Director-General Lin Chia-jung (林家榮) said, adding that the council plans to establish large-scale cooling systems nationwide.
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