Just one of 301 high-quality domestic tea products subject to random checks last year was found to have fabricated origins, yielding a 99.7 percent compliance rate for new labeling regulations, the Agriculture and Food Agency said yesterday.
Since 2023, the agency has required all domestically produced tea to be labeled with a place of origin, record of production and sale, or an organic label.
The rules ensure that manufacturers do not mix domestic teas with cheaper, imported tea from regions such as Vietnam to protect producer and consumer rights, and maintain the reputation of domestic tea, the agency said.
Photo courtesy of the Agriculture and Food Agency
To enforce these regulations, periodic and random spot checks are conducted using fake shoppers to purchase tea for testing, it said.
The inspections are a joint effort by the agency and organizations including the High Prosecutors’ Office, the Food and Drug Administration and the Tea and Beverage Research Station, it added.
Last year, the agency tested 501 samples of domestic tea, including 200 market samples and 301 competition-grade samples, it said.
Four were found to have undetermined origin and one contained imported tea mixed with domestic tea, which has been passed to the High Prosecutors’ Office for investigation and prosecution under articles 255 and 339 of the Criminal Code, it said.
Furthermore, labels were checked for 1,157 tea products, with 90 found to have labels that were not sufficiently clear — a 92.2 percent compliance rate, it added.
The manufacturers have been notified to rectify labeling to meet industry standards and regulations, the agency said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
RSS