Taiwan on Wednesday exported its first-ever shipment of brown-marbled groupers to Japan in the culmination of an eight-year program to obtain food safety certification for the fish from Tokyo.
The shipment proved that Taiwan’s groupers meet highly rigorous safety standards and are ready for the international market, Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) told an event in Pingtung County to mark the departure of the fish.
Japan formerly barred Taiwanese grouper due to concerns over ciguatoxin, a fear agricultural officials worked hard to dispel by improving domestic safety standards and collaborating with their Japanese counterparts, Chen said.
In October last year, Taiwan obtained certification that the product was safe to export, he said, adding that the historic grouper shipment is for West Japan Railway Co’s dining service, as well as restaurants and supermarkets in Fukuoka.
The shipment is a victory for Taiwan’s bid to export agricultural products to Japan and would open the way for other international opportunities, he said.
The Ministry of Agriculture would continue its efforts to create stable supply chains and develop processed fish products tailored to Japanese tastes, Chen said.
Cuts of fish in small packets and whole fish favored by Taiwanese would be sold in Japanese supermarkets as part of the strategy to introduce Taiwanese grouper to local consumers, he said.
Pingtung County is the nation’s leading producer of farmed grouper, producing 7,206 tonnes of brown-marbled grouper yearly, or 60 percent of the national total, Pingtung County Commissioner Chou Chun-mi (周春米) said.
The county uses 268 hectares to farm the fish, Chou said, adding that the shipment to Japan came from Pingtung Aquatic Products Gold Medal award-winning farms.
The sale of brown-marbled grouper is the most important milestone for local aquaculture since Japanese authorities certified the county’s yellow grouper as fit for export, Chen said.
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