The Singaporean Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has decided to lift safety measures on certain Taiwanese products and return to normalized trade, the Taipei Representative Office in Singapore announced yesterday, a move that is seen as disproving rumors that relations between the nation’s envoy and the city-state are strained.
After the plasticizer food scare in May last year, Singapore enacted measures compelling five major foodstuff imports from Taiwan, namely sports drinks, juice products, tea products, jams and syrup products, and foodstuffs in the form of capsules, pills or powders to be labeled with the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ (MOEA) Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection’s special proof of examination.
The plasticizer scare refers to the use of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, and other -plasticizers, -chemical substances used to increase pliability in plastic materials and which have been found to be endocrine disruptors, in food additives such as clouding agents.
The office said that after assuring the AVA that the plasticizer issue has been taken care of in Taiwan and urging it to consider lifting the extra safety measures on Taiwanese imports, the authority had agreed to a general lift of the measures starting on March 1.
The office further said that the ban would help Taiwanese food industries receive more contracts at a three-day foodstuffs exhibition starting on April 17, to which the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and foodstuff unions have invited 72 firms.
Meanwhile, the lifting of the measures is being seen as disproving rumors that there were “issues” during the tenure of soon-to-be--recalled Representative to Singapore Vanessa Shih (史亞平).
Shih’s recall has been the focus of media speculation lately, with the Chinese-language China Times publishing an article speculating that Shih, to facilitate a free-trade agreement with Singapore and resolve agriculture-related negotiations, had asked to see former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kwan Yew (李光耀).
The piece also speculated that Shih angered the Singaporean government, who called for a change of representatives, by insisting on meeting with Lee despite Lee’s saying that meeting face-to-face would not bring about any guarantees.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday declined to comment on the media speculation.
Shih is being reassigned, but it has not yet been decided when she will return to Taiwan, the ministry said, adding that it would announce her successor once the ministry has finished the list of candidates.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
RSS