Imports of Taiwan-grown custard apples would resume with immediate effect, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) said yesterday, following a halt of about two years.
TAO spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) said in a statement that the decision to resume imports was made based on a report by Taitung County authorities detailing local farmers’ improved quarantine measures.
Imports were suspended in September 2021, with Chinese customs officials citing “repeated discovery of agricultural pests” in shipments of custard apples from Taiwan.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言), both of whom attended this year’s Straits Forum in Xiamen in China’s Fujian Province on Friday and Saturday, relayed the desire of custard apple growers in Taitung to export their crops to China, Zhu said.
A notice posted by the Chinese General Administration of Customs said that China had approved the registration of 25 orchards and three packing plants, all of which are based in Taitung.
Beijing’s favoritism toward the county is likely a reward for the Taitung County Government sending representatives to the Straits Forum, a central government official said in Taipei, adding that such perks would likely be limited to areas governed by the KMT.
The usual approach of the Chinese Communist Party is to ban imports of a product from Taiwan then funnel positive publicity toward the KMT after it sends a delegation to China to negotiate the lifting of the ban, said another official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Agriculture and Food Agency Director-General Hu Jong-i (胡忠一) said he hoped China would soon recommence imports of other Taiwanese fruits that have been suspended over pest concerns, such as pineapples and wax apples.
The Council of Agriculture said that Taiwanese agricultural exporters used to rely heavily on the Chinese market, but have been making efforts to develop high-end products for other markets, especially the US and Japan.
In 2018, 23.2 percent of Taiwan’s agricultural exports went to China, but last year that figure fell to 12.9 percent, council data showed.
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