Uni-President Group, one of Taiwan’s leading food conglomerates, said on Friday that it has reached a settlement with local counterpart Ting Hsin International Group in a civil lawsuit related to tainted cooking lard.
The agreement was ratified by Uni-President’s three subsidiaries — food brand Uni-President Enterprises Corp, 7-Eleven store operator President Chain Store Corp and starch and vegetable oil provider President Nisshin Corp.
The subsidiaries together are to receive compensation of NT$170 million (US$5.29 million) from Ting Hsin for losses incurred in the 2014 incident.
After legal expenses are considered, the remaining NT$150 million is to be donated to public welfare causes, Uni-President Group said.
Cheng I Food Co, a subsidiary of industry giant Ting Hsin, in 2014 was found to have used recycled oil and imported oil meant for animal feed in its lard-based cooking oil products.
The lard, imported from Vietnam and Hong Kong, was reported to customs as animal feed-grade fat to evade a 20 percent import duty on lard for human consumption, and to avoid inspection by customs authorities, a court document showed.
The recycled oil products were used in products made by a group of local food suppliers, including the three subsidiaries of Uni-President Group, resulting in losses. Ting Hsin faced civil and criminal lawsuits after the oil’s use came to light and raised public concerns over food safety.
Uni-President Enterprises is to distribute the compensation to charity groups and non-profit organizations inside and outside the business group.
Charity groups inside the business expected to receive funding include the Uni-President Welfare Foundation, the Good Neighbor Foundation and the Taiwan Millennium Foundation, Uni-President Group said.
External non-profit organizations include the United Way of Taiwan and consumer protection groups, it said.
Uni-President Enterprises said it plans to buy computers to be donated to schools in rural areas, as well as purchase ambulances and wheelchairs for hospitals and related organizations.
The coast guard on Friday took a Chinese fishing boat and the 17 people on board into custody, after it rammed into a patrol boat while attempting to flee. A 100-tonne coast guard vessel at about 8am discovered a Chinese fishing boat illegally operating in waters about 11 nautical miles (20.4km) northwest of Hsinchu, the Hsinchu offshore flotilla of the Coast Guard Administration said. The crew refused to allow law enforcement to board the ship and attempted to flee, it added. The coast guard vessel and another ship chased the fishing boat for about a half hour, during which time the Chinese boat
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that Beijing was trying to “annex” Taiwan, while China said its recent series of drills near Taiwan are aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces. The Ministry of National Defense earlier this month said that it had observed dozens of Chinese fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, operating nearby. The increased frequency of China’s military activities has raised the risk of events “getting out of hand” and sparking an accidental clash, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said last week. Asked about the spurt
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching
RSS