A New Taipei City pharmacist reported that a shipment of masks from a local supplier contained more than 3 million that were made in China, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
The pharmacist in Sanchong District (三重), who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that one package was labeled with simplified Chinese characters that read: “Made in Anhui Province,” the FDA said.
The shipment was from Carry Hi-tech Co (加利科技) in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里), it said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The FDA said that it collaborated with the New Taipei City Field Office of the Investigation Bureau and the New Taipei City Department of Health to conduct a search of the factory, where investigators found non-medical masks labeled as made in China and import documents.
Some of the masks bore the words “Carry mask,” which might have been an attempt to disguise where they were made, the FDA said.
The documents showed that the factory last month imported about 3.37 million non-medical masks and that they had been mixed with medical ones in the government’s rationing system, the FDA said.
The factory provides masks to pharmacies and public health centers in the city’s Bali, Linkou (林口), Lujhou (蘆洲), Sanchong, Sanzhi (三芝), Shihmen (石門), Sinjhuang (新莊), Taishan (泰山), Tamsui (淡水) and Wugu (五股) districts, it said.
Some shipments also went to Yilan County and Taipei, it added.
The factory has been shut down and barred from shipping any more masks, the FDA said, adding that the investigation would continue.
The company faces a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$2 million (US$1,016 to US$67,725), it said.
From today to Friday next week, people who have purchased masks with the words “carry mask” can exchange them for new ones at locations in the real-name mask registration system, it said.
The New Taipei City Consumer Protection Office said that pharmacies participating in the real-name registration system check the quantity and quality of masks to help avoid disputes.
The office said that it has ordered the city’s pharmacists and the New Taipei City Pharmacists’ Association to conduct thorough checks to keep problematic masks out of circulation.
Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said that since the government’s mask-rationing system began allowing masks to sold without restrictions, it has kept close tabs on imports and exports.
“It is true that most of Taiwan’s imported masks come from China,” Wang said, adding that the Ministry of Economic Affairs would work closely with the Ministry of Health and Welfare to prevent suppliers from intentionally mixing Chinese-made masks with locally produced ones.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event yesterday, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said that there is an ongoing probe into a similar case involving another mask supplier.
Chen did not name the company.
A potential solution is to label every locally made mask with “Made in Taiwan,” but further discussions are required, he said.
Additional reporting by Huang Hsin-po
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
STRONG WINDS: Without the Central Mountain Range as a shield, people should be ready for high-speed winds, CWA weather forecaster Liu Yu-chi said Danas was yesterday upgraded to a typhoon and could grow stronger as it moves closely along the nation’s west coastline, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Penghu and Pingtung counties have canceled work and school today. Work and school in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Yilan, Taitung, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties would continue as usual, although offices and schools would be closed in Taoyuan’s Luju (蘆竹), Dayuan (大園), Guangyin (觀音) and Sinwu (新屋) districts. As of 5pm yesterday, the typhoon’s
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
RSS