The Chinese General Administration of Customs yesterday said it found residues of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on the packaging of frozen horse mackerel imported from Taiwan.
It is the second such claim Beijing made this month.
China on June 10 said that imports of beltfish from a Taiwanese company would be banned for one week, as the virus had been detected on the packaging of the company’s frozen white ribbon fish.
The Council of Agriculture (COA) at the time called on Chinese authorities to present scientific evidence to support its claim.
China yesterday said that imports from the company that packaged the frozen horse mackerel would also be banned for a week.
The COA yesterday reiterated its call on Chinese authorities to provide evidence.
Council spokeswoman Chen Shu-jung (陳淑蓉) said there is no evidence that COVID-19 can be transmitted via the packaging of seafood or other goods.
China has targeted several countries with similar claims since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, severely affecting international trade, she said.
Food and Drug Administration Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) said that China has not responded to any Taiwanese requests to clarify its claims of SARS-CoV-2 contamination.
China is the only country that bans imports of agricultural products and fish claiming that the packaging is contaminated with active SARS-CoV-2, Wu said.
It has targeted Japanese scallops, Russian cod fish and Argentine squid, among others, Wu said, calling it an “odd measure” and “quite puzzling.”
There are no reports of people contracting the virus by touching contaminated food packaging, she said, adding that health authorities would have detected such transmissions much earlier if they were possible.
So far, only China has reported such incidents, she said.
Since China began making such claims, Taiwan has tested 1,200 imported products and none of them was contaminated with active SARS-CoV-2, Wu said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei