Lawmakers, tea farmers and activists called for a suspension of tea imports from Vietnam, after the Department of Health discovered residue of a banned pesticide in Vietnamese leaf tea imports earlier this month.
The department found more than 0.09ppm of dicofol, a pesticide prohibited from use on tea plants, in 21,000kg of tea leaves imported from Vietnam, Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) told a press conference at the legislature yesterday.
"It's shocking that so many tea leaves were found with a banned pesticide in such a short time," Lai said.
Tea imported from Vietnam is often sold as Taiwanese tea or made into tea-based drinks, she said.
"Imports of Vietnamese tea should be suspended and we should demand action from the Vietnamese government to solve the problem," said Su Wei-shuo (蘇偉碩), chairman of the Taiwan Farmers' Alliance.
Two tea farmers from Nantou County supported Su's suggested measures.
"That's what foreign countries like Japan did when they found problems with our produce," Chen Chi-cheng (陳吉成) said. "[The government] should take these measures to protect consumers, if not to protect tea farmers."
Tea farmers in Taiwan have suffered great losses in the face of competition from lower-priced Vietnamese tea.
"I've only made about 50 percent of the cost from sales of spring harvest tea leaves," Chen said.
Wu Cheng-hsue (吳政學), a senior consumer ombudsman from the Consumer Protection Commission, vowed to make inspections of imported tea leaves stricter, especially regarding illegal pesticide residues and false labeling.
"We're strictly enforcing import inspections; we'll also conduct more inspections in the marketplace to identify and withdraw imported tea sold as Taiwanese tea," Wu said.
Wu said he could not promise to enforce a suspension on imports of Vietnamese tea.
"We'll have to call a meeting with customs officials, agricultural authorities and health authorities next week to decide what to do," Wu said.
Food Safety Bureau Deputy Director Hsieh Ting-hung (
"The shipment will be turned away at the port and it would be up to the owners whether or not to take it back or to destroy it," Hsieh said. "None of the tainted shipment has reached the market."
Dicofol is an insecticide approved for used on legumes and vegetables, but not on teas, he said.
Additional reporting by Angelica Oung
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS