The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday said it would prioritize imports of prepackaged eggs in future programs to avoid the controversies incurred by a special import program this year.
When facing an egg shortage at the start of the year, agriculture officials in the special egg import program purchased about 140 million eggs from abroad, Department of Animal Industry Director-General Chang Ching-wei (張經緯) told the Cabinet.
The import program had achieved the desired result of ensuring a steady supply and inhibiting erratic price hikes, Chang said.
Photo: Liu Yu-ching, Taipei Times
In the ministry’s report to the Cabinet, Chang estimated that overall benefits derived from the program totaled about NT$6 billion (US$186.85 million) — about 10 times the amount paid by the ministry for the imported eggs.
“This program specifically dealt with the shortage to fill domestic demand for eggs. It had limited conditions for the time frame and country of origin,” Chang said.
As the ministry did not reduce import tariffs, “it would not affect the prices provided by domestic egg producers, protecting their revenue,” he added.
Negotiations resulted in deals with 12 countries, for which egg imports are open through this year for Paraguay, Guatemala, Singapore, Canada and Turkey, and until the end of June next year for Japan, the US, Australia, Brazil, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand, he said.
Chang said that the new measures would see the imported eggs held in reserve released in a timely fashion for processing, and that they would not be sold at retail outlets.
“We are constantly monitoring the situation, and will pick up on the special import program when the egg shortage surpasses 10 percent nationwide,” he added. “In principle, future imports will require washing and packaging in the country of origin, while the eggs must be under cold-chain storage inside its own packaging. Each shipment must be registered with the Food and Drug Administration, which will publish testing results at regular intervals.”
Deputy Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) also said that imported eggs were not past their expiration date, which is a misconception being circulated on social media.
Chen said the ministry plans to import 330,000 chicken broilers this year, and increase its quota for egg-laying hens to 34 million to meet domestic demand.
The ministry would also provide NT$4.4 billion in additional investment to build new cold-storage chains and upgrade chicken farms to create more animal-friendly living conditions, he added.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS