The Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) yesterday urged the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ (MOEA) Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) to establish a guideline for all organic products on the market to avoid products being held to different standards.
The commission made the call as a new rule came into effect yesterday that stipulates fines of up to NT$300,000 for agricultural and processed agricultural products labeled “organic” that fail to receive government certification.
However, non-edible products — including cotton products, cosmetics, bath gels and shampoos — can still claim organic status without Council of Agriculture (COA) certification.
In recent years, the word “organic” has become prevalent in the consumer market. A search on Yahoo’s online auction Web site produces about 8,700 organic goods for sale, and ruten.com provides Web-shoppers with more than 20,000 options — with products ranging from organic cotton and massage oils to makeup and dog food.
However, the government is unable to guarantee whether they are truly grown and produced organically.
Secretary-general Wu Chia-cheng (吳家誠) of the Consumers’ Foundation said that during production processes, many products are contaminated, and the government should warn the public against placing too much trust in self-proclaimed organic goods.
Association of Taiwan Organic Agriculture Promotion director Chen Shi-hsiung (陳世雄) said that because many “organic stores” sell a combination of organic and non-organic products, any store that claims to be organic on store signs should be required to obtain certification.
Although Agriculture and Food Agency Director-General Tsai Ching-chiang (蔡精強) said the agency’s jurisdiction ended with foods, the CPC said that other government agencies — such as the MOEA, Department of Health and the BSMI — should regulate non-food products because consumers tend to pay double or triple the price for goods that are labeled as being organic.
In response, the BSMI said the bureau has drafted regulations for organic foods, but enforcement was up to the COA.
The BSMI said no regulations currently apply to other organic products such as personal hygiene products, adding that if they were to be regulated, production process guidelines for organic goods would need to be established first.
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