The government is planning to continue importing eggs until the end of this year to make up for shortages, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said on Friday.
Taiwanese consume 23.6 million to 24 million eggs per day, while daily production in the past few weeks was 22.2 million, the council said.
An import program to address the egg shortage would continue until Dec. 31, it added.
Manufacturers of processed food products are permitted to import eggs, including liquid and boiled eggs, COA minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said, adding that the imported eggs would be subject to the same food safety standards as domestically produced ones.
Eggs from China and Vietnam cannot be imported, as the countries use poultry vaccines that are not permitted in Taiwan, he added.
The council would also work with egg farmers to increase production, including by importing 300,000 to 500,000 egg-laying hens this year, Chen said.
The council also provides two-year interest-free loans to farmers seeking to upgrade open-air chicken coops to roofed facilities that allow for better temperature regulation, he added.
Even though Taiwan’s avian flu situation has been brought under control and farmers have ramped up breeding efforts, effects on egg production would take time to manifest, he said.
However, egg production should begin to stabilize in May or June, he said.
The council originally estimated that egg output would stabilize this month, but cold weather depressed production, he said.
Lin Tien-lai (林天來), who heads an egg producers’ association in Taipei, said he supports the council’s import program.
However, as imported eggs would be used for processed food production, it would not affect consumer egg prices, he said.
Even though the measure would increase the number of eggs available, it would mostly lead to more hoarding, he said.
Separately, Chen said that wholesale prices of duck eggs have risen due to higher feed costs, calling it an effect of market forces.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to