Taiwan hopes to obtain a permit to export sugar apples to Japan by the end of this year, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said on Tuesday.
The Council of Agriculture has applied for the permit as part of its efforts to diversify Taiwan’s export markets after Beijing banned imports of sugar apples, wax apples and pineapples from Taiwan, the bureau said.
Agricultural officials started to focus on Japan as a potential market after Taiwanese pineapples were received well by local consumers, while Singapore is another possible market, it said.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
Taiwanese researchers have developed a proprietary flash-freezing technology especially to export sugar apples, the bureau said, adding that the technology is being released to the private sector.
The council has filed an application to export fresh and frozen sugar apples, and is awaiting approval, it said.
The bureau has sent documents regarding produce certificates and pest and disease control to its Japanese counterpart, it added.
In Japan, fresh fruits from regions affected by Oriental fruit flies must be sterilized by the country of origin before they are allowed into Japan, it said.
The council’s researchers have carried out experiments to determine whether freeze or steam sterilization worked better on sugar apples, and settled on the latter, the bureau said.
Steam sterilization would also be used for Taiwanese mangoes and lychees marked for Japan, which could eliminate the need for Japan to send officials to Taiwan to conduct inspections, it said.
Japan is an important buyer of Taiwanese mangoes, lychees, grapes, pomeloes, papayas and ponkan oranges, it said.
Taiwanese officials have been carrying out inspections of these fruits since 2020 due to COVID-19 travel restrictions between the countries, it said.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS