Milk is to be given to children aged three to 12 at kindergartens and schools from September at the earliest, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in Yilan County yesterday.
The plan, a collaboration between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Agriculture, is to be a permanent part of national policy, Cheng told reporters.
The program’s top priority is to provide children the safe and fresh milk they need to grow into healthy adults, he said.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
Education and agriculture officials are issuing contract solicitations to source milk for 1.34 million children enrolled at the nation’s 2,600 elementary schools and affiliated kindergartens, K-12 Administration head Peng Fu-yuan (彭富源) said.
The ministry’s four-year, NT$4.4 billion (US$134.87 million) policy comes ahead of an expected rise in milk imports from New Zealand as part of the Agreement Between New Zealand and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Cooperation to take effect next year.
Under the free-trade deal, Taiwan would remove tariffs on 99.88 percent of New Zealand imports, including liquid milk.
Deputy Minister of Education Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) told the legislature’s Education and Health Committee that his ministry would begin furnishing details for implementing the policy by the end of this month.
The education ministry’s goal is to roll out the plan before school starts in September, but the timetable could be pushed back if necessary, Chang Liao said.
Education officials are making a budget to ensure that enough milk would be available, Chang Liao said.
Children who are lactose intolerant would receive calcium-fortified soy milk, he added.
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