Image for illustrative purpose only.(Pixabay)
Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) A special program inspecting all oysters' countries of origin has been launched due to concerns over the false labeling of Vietnamese imports, Taiwan's Fisheries Agency said Saturday.
In a statement, the agency said it had launched the program after local oyster suppliers reported to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) that Chinese oysters -- which are banned from Taiwan -- had been transhipped through Vietnam and relabeled.
Suppliers in Tainan's Anping District also expressed concerns to Chen that such imports were being fraudulently sold as Taiwanese, according to local media reports.
In a social media post on Friday, Chen, citing Customs Administration data, noted that Vietnamese oyster imports had increased significantly over the past five years, with annual shipments into Taiwan increasing from 201 tons in 2019 to 3,937 tons in 2023.
Chen claimed that many of these "Vietnamese" oysters were from China, which had been transhipped through the Southeast Asian country then relabeled.
Expressing concern that such imports may be mixed with Taiwanese oysters, Chen called on the relevant government agencies to pay attention to the matter to protect local producers.
Responding to the case, the agency said the Ministry of Agriculture has applied technical evaluations -- "TFDAF0035.00" and "TFDAF0036.00" -- developed in 2023 to identify the oysters' places of origin.
In addition, several relevant agencies have cooperated to track the countries of origin of all oysters on sale, while law enforcement officials would handle the cases in accordance with related legislation if any substandard oysters were found.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration has also increased border inspections to help intercept fraudulently labeled oyster imports and ensure hygiene and food safety standards are met, the statement added.
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