A notification received by a farmers’ group in Kaohsiung from a Chinese trade company suspending one shipment of wax apples was an isolated case and would have no effect on cross-strait trade in the fruit, Taiwan’s agricultural authorities said on Sunday.
The Liouguei Farmers’ Association in Kaohsiung’s Liouguei District (六龜) said that on Sunday it received a notification from its Chinese trade agent that a shipment of wax apples to China scheduled for next week had been suspended.
The notification came three days after China told Taiwan that it was suspending imports of its pineapples, starting yesterday.
Photo: CNA
Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said that the decision of one Chinese trade agent does not affect cross-strait trade in wax apples.
If Taiwan or China decides to suspend trade of any agricultural produce, a bilateral agricultural trade agreement stipulates that a notification should immediately be sent to the nation in question, he said.
The council has received no such notification, he added.
Chen also urged local media to check their facts before filing sensationalist reports that could affect the prices of farm produce.
Wang Cheng-yi (王正一), acting director-general of the Kaohsiung City Government’s Agriculture Bureau, said that the suspension involves one Chinese trading agent and one fruit shipment.
The shipment was expected to contain about 300 to 400 cartons of wax apples, the bureau said.
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said that the farmers’ association has exported 7,648 tonnes of wax apples since last year, all of which passed Chinese inspections.
Kaoshiung exported 1,331.5 tonnes of wax apples last year, with 99.5 percent going to China, the council said.
There would be reduced output this year due to fruit being damaged by cold weather, with the wax apple harvest expected to begin in the middle of next month, it said.
Kaohsiung produces about 5,700 tonnes of wax apples annually and is home to 407 hectares of wax apple orchards, with Liouguei accounting for about 344 hectares.
About 80 percent of Liouguei’s wax apples are sold domestically, while exports account for the remainder, which mainly go to China.
Wax apples are one of the five main fruits Taiwan exports to China. In Liouguei, a species of wax apple dubbed “honey wind bell” has been developed for export and has a production value of about NT$100 million (US$3.53 million) per year.
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