Imports of white shrimp from Belize are expected to start this year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The initiative is part of efforts to promote mutual benefit and prosperity with diplomatic allies, Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Department Director-General Cheng Li-cheng (鄭力城) said.
The government of Belize had expressed interest in exporting white shrimp to Taiwan and with assistance from Taiwan’s embassy in Belize, it has completed the necessary application procedures under Taiwan’s food import inspection system, Cheng said.
Photo: AFP
The embassy also asked the Belizean government to submit a seafood export checklist to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which reviewed it and found it complied with its standards, he said.
Asked about the timeline for shrimp imports, Cheng said that the ministry is awaiting final confirmation from the FDA.
As Taiwan and Belize have an economic cooperation agreement, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Finance would begin tariff negotiations once safety standards are verified, he said.
“I believe there will be concrete results this year,” he added.
Meanwhile, Taiwan last year was the second-largest beef export market for Paraguay after the nation began importing beef from the South American ally in 2022 following implementation of the Taiwan-Paraguay Agreement on Economic Cooperation in 2018, Cheng said.
In the first quarter of this year, Taiwan imported 15,000 tonnes of beef from Paraguay — a 23 percent increase compared with the same period last year, he said.
Moreover, Taiwan has consistently remained Paraguay’s largest pork export market, he added.
In other news, the Central America Trade Office in March invited 13 Taiwanese companies to attend a trade fair in Guatemala, he said.
As a result, the companies are expected to import about 720 tonnes of green coffee beans — a record, Cheng said.
“Taiwanese consume about 8 million cups of coffee per day. Guatemala is a key source of specialty coffee, and its beans are well-liked and appreciated by Taiwanese consumers,” he said.
Asked about the Taiwanese fishing vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) being boarded and seized by the Philippine Coast Guard on Monday morning, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said that the ministry was informed of the incident by the Fisheries Agency and the Coast Guard Administration that morning.
Upon receiving the report, it immediately expressed grave concern to the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei and urged the Philippine government to release the vessel as soon as possible, Hsiao said.
The ministry also instructed the nation’s representative office in the Philippines to handle the case, he said.
The vessel was released on Monday afternoon, he added.
Separately, the foreign ministry expressed regret over Nagasaki’s decision not to invite Taiwan to participate in a memorial marking the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.
Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki on Friday said that Taiwan would not be invited to this year’s event marking the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing on Aug. 9, as invitations are only extended to countries with diplomatic relations with Japan.
In contrast, Hiroshima, which normally would not invite Taiwan to its Aug. 6 peace memorial ceremony, has reportedly notified Taipei about this year’s event, the Asahi Shimbun reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources.
Hsiao said that while Taiwan had not officially received an invitation to the Hiroshima event, it was looking forward to attending.
As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the bombing, the city has decided there is no reason to exclude Taiwan, as the event is meant to promote the “spirit of Hiroshima” — a wish for coexistence and the prosperity of humankind, sources told Japanese media.
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