Farmgate egg prices in Taiwan would not surge dramatically due to slightly more expensive eggs imported from Australia, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday, adding that the government would cover the price difference between imported eggs and locally produced eggs.
The first batch of 360,000 Australian eggs arrived on Friday last week via air as part of the council’s measures to address a nationwide egg shortage. Each imported egg costs NT$12, which is NT$6 more than a locally produced egg.
Council data showed that the nation has a shortfall of 500,000 to 800,000 eggs per day.
Photo: CNA
“Taiwan’s egg supply decreased after the Lunar New Year holiday due to an avian flu outbreak, cold waves and the replacement of old hens at chicken farms,” Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee.
“Egg production is expected to rise this month, as the weather is to become warmer and risks of another avian flu outbreak are under control,” Chen said, adding that chicken farms are expected to resume egg production after they have replaced old hens with young ones.
To meet consumer demands in the short term, eggs imported from Australia are to be used by processed food manufacturers, who in turn would release eggs in their inventories to the local market, Chen said.
Five million Australian eggs are to arrive by the end of this month, he said.
Asked why the council did not import cheaper eggs from Japan as it did last year, Chen said that Japan also needs to import eggs from other countries after culling nearly 17 million chickens because of avian flu.
Costs of imported eggs vary, depending on whether they are delivered by air or sea, Chen said.
“The council would pay for the difference between the retail prices of local eggs and imported eggs. This will not affect the farmgate prices of eggs in Taiwan,” Chen said.
“Our main task is to ensure that eggs are available for purchase,” he said.
Chen told Chinese National Party (KMT) Legislator Tseng Ming-chung (曾銘宗) that the funding to pay for price difference would come from the Fund for Redressing Damage to Farmers by Agricultural Imports (農產品受進口損害救助基金).
With warm weather, imported eggs and an increasing local egg supply, the council aims to meet most the of the egg demand by the end of this month, Chen said.
However, it would take another two to three months to raise the egg supply from 2.24 million per day to 2.4 million per day, he added.
Tomorrow, the council would announce a plan to raise the nation’s self-sufficiency rate for eggs in the long run, Chen said.
“Imported eggs cost more than locally produced eggs, and must meet our criteria for animal health and quarantine. In the long term, we must strive to have a self-sufficiency rate of 100 percent in egg supply,” Chen said.
“We are proposing to allocate approximately NT$1.8 billion [US$58.85 million] to upgrade facilities at chicken farms nationwide so that they can withstand challenges brought by climate change and have stable egg production.”
Measures have been taken to minimize damage from Chinese espionage, the Ministry of National Defense said on Monday, in response to an alleged plan to deliver a Chinook helicopter to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The Chinese-language CTWANT magazine earlier in the day reported that a lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsieh (謝) was approached by Chinese officers with an offer to evacuate his family to Thailand in the event of a cross-strait conflict. In exchange, Hsieh was asked to fly a CH-47F Chinook helicopter to a Chinese aircraft carrier in the Taiwan Strait, the magazine said. Hsieh initially declined, but accepted after he was
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with
CHINA illness surge: Of 88 travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau with respiratory symptoms who were encouraged to get tested upon arrival, 70.6% had the flu Two hundred and sixty people with COVID-19 were hospitalized and 31 deaths related to the virus were reported last week — the highest numbers in four weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that cases are expected to peak next month. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that of the 260 people hospitalized last week with moderate to severe COVID-19, 98 percent had not received the Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine. Among the people hospitalized this year, 78 percent were aged 65 or older, while most of the those who were hospitalized or died have or had
RSS