The Ministry of Economic Affairs has formed a special task force to intensify a crackdown on Chinese products circulating in the local market with “Made in Taiwan” labels, an official said yesterday.
“Agencies under the ministry, including the Bureau of Foreign Trade, the Industrial Development Bureau and the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection, have formed a special investigative team to crack down on commercial piracy,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Sheng-chung (林聖忠) said.
Lin made the remarks a day after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) promised a group of traditional industry operators he would demand that the ministry come up with a package of measures within a week to clamp down on counterfeit products from China that are reportedly being sold in Taiwan as locally made.
Ma met the group of industry representatives in Tainan on Wednesday. At the meeting, a bedding industry executive displayed shoddy Chinese counterfeits that have been sold in shops around Taiwan either bearing the “made in Taiwan” label or lacking labels detailing the country of origin.
The executive challenged Ma to pull all such goods from the local market within three months in exchange for traditional industry operator support for his administration’s plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
“The ministry has a well-devised framework to cope with problems related to the entry of counterfeit goods from China,” Lin said.
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