Taiwanese buying locally produced pineapples is not enough to help farmers after China on Monday suspended imports of the fruit from Taiwan, the New Power Party (NPP) said yesterday.
The government should seek to solve the dispute through WTO mechanisms and reconsider the nation’s export policies for agricultural products, NPP Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said, adding that Taiwan relies too much on China for fruit exports.
The government has highlighted the importance of diversifying the nation’s export markets, but it is unclear whether it has ever surveyed potential markets and worked to improve the quality of fruit farming to enhance Taiwan’s international competitiveness, she said.
Beijing’s decision to suspend imports was unexpected, as only 0.21 percent of fruit from Taiwan failed import inspections, NPP international center director Jerry Liu (劉仕傑) said.
The suspension might contravene the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, he said.
The Chinese government should quickly revise the ban and adhere to WTO rules and the Cross-Strait Agreement on Cooperation of Agricultural Product Quarantine and Inspection (海峽兩岸農產品檢疫檢驗合作協議), Liu said.
Taiwan’s representative at the trade organization should seek to settle the dispute with their Chinese counterparts, he said.
Exports of pineapples, wax apples and atemoyas to China have been increasing over the years, exposing Taiwan’s agricultural industry to Chinese influence, NPP Secretary-General Christy Pai (白卿芬) said.
“Taiwan needs a comprehensive fruit export policy,” Pai said.
Taiwan’s fruit exports have higher production costs than those of other nations, Pai said.
The government should help farmers place their products on international markets, with marketing plans targeted at Japan, South Korea, North America and Europe, she said.
It should also study the preferences of consumers in those countries and assist farmers in meeting the markets’ specific demands, she added.
Mitagri Co and Taiwan Agricultural Investment and Development Co (台農投資), two state-funded exporters, failed to promote Taiwanese agricultural products abroad, Pai said, adding that the nation would be uncompetitive if it does not change its agriculture policy.
Although the government has spent NT$1 billion (US$35.38 million) helping pineapple farmers, its overall annual budget for agricultural research is only NT$1.5 billion, NPP think tank executive director Lee Chao-li (李兆立) said.
“If the government wishes to upgrade the agriculture industry and export more agricultural products, it should first take care of the basics, such as research and development,” Lee said, citing as an example the success of recently developed mango-pineapple hybrids.
Government experts should focus on developing new products instead of doing extensive paperwork, he said.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS