President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday denounced a local supplier for mixing Chinese-made masks with domestically produced ones, and called for legal action against the company should it be found to have acted illegally.
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said that it had discovered a shipment of masks from Carry Hi-tech labeled in simplified Chinese as “Made in Anhui Province.”
After an investigation with the Taipei City Field Office of the Investigation Bureau and the New Taipei City Department of Health at the company’s factory in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里), officials found that about 3.37 million substandard masks passed off as medical-grade had been sold last month as part of the nation’s mask rationing system.
Photo: CNA
The discovery has negatively affected the credibility of the mask rationing system, Tsai said.
It is “absolutely unforgivable” that Carry Hi-tech had provided the rationing system with substandard masks, putting the public’s health at risk, she said.
While the matter is being investigated, agencies should determine whether there are other similar incidents to make sure that all disease prevention products in circulation conform to government standards, Tsai said.
Members of her administration should also be more vigilant in preventing nonconforming masks and other disease prevention products from entering the market, she added.
The national mask rationing system represents the hard work of many people, having raised the daily mask production capacity from 1.88 million to 20 million, so it is infuriating that their efforts have been discredited, Su said.
These masks are used to protect the public and have been donated to the nation’s allies, but Carry Hi-tech has imported Chinese-made counterfeits for its own profit, he said.
The company claims that it had imported Chinese products because it was unable to produce masks due to a material shortage, but the government had provided it with more than enough materials to cover its production capacity at half the market value, so such claims are unfounded, he said.
If Carry Hi-tech had encountered problems, it should have made that known, instead of complaining about it after it was caught, he said, adding that the company might have committed fraud and breached the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法).
While reiterating the government’s resolve to ensure the quality of personal protective equipment and safeguard public health, Su urged individuals and companies not to damage the nation’s disease prevention efforts for profit.
The government has suspended Carry Hi-tech’s operations, but it would not stop at simply expelling the company from the mask rationing system, he said, adding that the supplier must be severely punished if it is found to have broken the law.
Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) called the company a “bad apple” for passing off imported masks as “Made in Taiwan.”
The ministry also refuted the supplier’s allegations that the government had unfairly requested that smaller-scale manufacturers boost production to make up for a deficit from major mask makers.
The ministry did not force manufacturers into a “blank check” supply agreement, she said.
Additional reporting by Angelica Oung
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