The Ministry of Agriculture is launching a series of measures to boost the demand for Taiwan-
produced fresh milk to minimize the impact of the removal of tariffs on dairy products imported from New Zealand from 2025.
The zero-tariff policy for dairy products imported from New Zealand is part of an economic cooperation agreement between Taiwan and New Zealand, called ANZTEC, which was signed on July 10, 2013.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
At a joint meeting of four legislative committees yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee De-wei (李德維) asked Acting Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) how the policy would affect the domestic fresh milk market.
“We have been holding talks with dairy farming industry representatives in the past year... The most important thing is to increase the demand for Taiwan-produced milk and distinguish it from milk imported from other countries,” Chen said.
The agricultural industry is redesigning the label for Taiwan-produced fresh milk and has developed the technology to identify any mixture of domestically produced milk and imported milk, he said.
Lee said the ministry should consider not calling imported liquid milk “fresh milk” to distinguish it from locally produced milk.
Chen said that the quality of Taiwan-produced fresh milk, as well as its low-carbon emission production process, should be recognized and affirmed by domestic consumers, which is a better way to distinguish between these two types of milk.
Chen told a meeting of the Economics Committee on Wednesday last week that the ministry is seeking approval from the Executive Yuan for a proposal to establish a four-year dairy farming industry development fund to mitigate the impact that the new policy might have on the domestic dairy farming industry.
The funding would be used to upgrade the local dairy farming industry, create demand for domestically produced dairy products and facilitate sales of these products, he said.
“We need to review the size of dairy cattle. Of the roughly 125,000 dairy cows in the country, 12,000 sick and weak ones are to be retired,” he said.
“We will seek to reduce the costs that dairy farmers spend to buy forage grass and incorporate the weather forecast system into the grass-drying process,” he said.
“We will also monitor the quality of domestically produced milk, coordinate the pricing scheme between ranches and dairy plants, reduce carbon emissions during the production process and facilitate the sales of domestically produced milk,” he added.
To boost demand for Taiwan-made dairy products, the government would increase the supply of fresh milk to school-age children and elderly people in farming and fishing villages, Chen said.
There would also be a traceability system for Taiwan-made dairy products, it said.
Some dairy farmers have suggested that the ministry intervene and help lower shelf placement fees for domestically produced dairy products in supermarkets or larger retail chains, as the fees generally account for 30 to 50 percent of retail prices.
“Pricing strategies for dairy products are determined based on various contracts between dairy plants and supermarkets, and it would be difficult for the government to intervene,” Chen said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as