Following annual increases in the amount of agricultural goods exported to China, government officials are now examining the possibility of exporting standards certifications such as the Certified Agricultural Standards (CAS) label to safeguard the quality of Taiwanese agricultural products sold overseas.
Council of Agriculture officials yesterday said the label, which has already been used domestically for 21 years on more than 6,000 agricultural products, was a label that “more than 80 percent of consumers know and trust.”
Council Deputy Minister Huang Yu-tsai (黃有才) said that exporting the label would help increase the safety and exposure of Taiwanese products sold in China, where CAS trademarks have already been granted.
“Following cases of problematic products from China being sold on the marketplace, people there are starting to trust the quality of Taiwanese goods … which is why we should apply the CAS label there,” Huang said.
Council officials said that it was also planning to expand the CAS label to cover fresh milk by next year and estimated that the value of products with the label was expected to expand from NT$42 billion (US$1.3 billion) to NT$53 billion by 2012.
China is one of the largest markets for Taiwanese agriculture goods.
Last year, Taiwan exported more than NT$14 billion in such goods to China, an increase of NT$194 million over 2007.
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