Indonesian sauces and fresh truffles supplied by several Italian companies are to be subject to batch-by-batch border inspections after such products recently failed customs inspections, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Tuesday.
Three batches of hot sauces imported by two Taiwanese companies from Indonesia were found to contain excessive levels of sulfur dioxide, a bleaching agent, and destroyed or returned to the country of origin as stipulated, FDA Deputy Director Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.
Products imported by the two companies — one based in Kaohsiung and the other in Taipei — have been inspected on a batch-by-batch basis at the border since previous imports failed safety inspections.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
The FDA would continue to inspect 100 percent of the two companies’ imports until improvements have been made, Lin said.
So far this year 16 shipments of sauces from Indonesia have been stopped at the border after failing inspections, FDA data showed.
From Monday next week to May 5 next year full inspections would be conducted on all Indonesian sauces, Lin said.
In addition, another two shipments of fresh truffles imported from Italy failed customs inspections after having been found to contain excessive levels of cadmium, a heavy metal, in the wake of a series of similar violations since the beginning of this year, the FDA said.
The two shipments supplied by Geofoods and Sassone were found to contain cadmium at a concentration of 5 milligrams per kilogram and 9 milligrams per kilogram respectively, exceeding the maximum permitted level of 2 milligrams per kilogram, Lin said.
They were returned to the country of origin or destroyed and did not reach the shelves in Taiwan, he added.
The FDA on Aug. 29 introduced random border checks on 50 percent of fresh truffles imported from Italy after seven shipments from the country were found to contain excessive levels of the heavy metal, all from three Italian suppliers — Faye Gasgtronomie Italia, Urbani Tartifi and Tartufi Morra.
At the time, the government informed the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Promotion Office and asked for an explanation along with improvement measures by Oct. 16.
No response was received and another notice was issued to the office, with it had been asked to reply to by yesterday, the FDA said.
Lin said the Italian government provided an explanation and presented improvement measures on Oct. 25, saying it would test the products for heavy metals before exporting to Taiwan, and consult with the FDA regarding testing methods and related legal regulations.
From Jan. 1 to Oct. 20, Taiwan imported 96 shipments of fresh truffles from Italy, of which nine had been rejected at the border after being found to contain excessive levels of cadmium, the FDA said.
Truffles supplied by the five Italian firms would now be subject to batch-by-batch inspections, Lin said.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
RSS