VEGETABLES PRICES REMAIN HIGH, AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATE|菜價居高不下民怨四起 消保官赴賣場稽查

After several typhoons that hit Taiwan recently, vegetable prices are still going up. To address this issue, Premier Lin Chuan demanded relevant governmental agencies to look into this problem and see if there is pricing manipulation. Consumer ombudsmen also visited hypermarts to inspect vegetable prices. They pointed out that although prices for some fruits and vegetables have come down, prices for vegetables such as Bak-choy and water spinach are still continuing to increase. People are staying away from expensive vegetables in traditional markets, and there's nothing that the vendors can do. ==VENDOR== Many people approached. Although the prices were high, they had no choice but to pay for what they had to buy. Although the typhoon has gone, vegetable prices are still on the rise. Facing people's complaints, Premier Lin Chuan has ordered relevant government agencies to monitor the market supply and demand. Consumer ombudsmen also visited supermarkets to carry out inspections early in the morning. ==WANG TEH-MING, Consumer Ombudsman== We are investigating into the causes behind the increasing prices. The officers from the Fair Trade Commission here today can tell you that the strict penalty under the Fair Trade Act can go up to as high as NT$ 25 million. Wang Teh-ming pointed out that the Council of Agriculture has released its stocks of vegetables and communicated with the upstream industry to release fair-priced vegetables. However, the prices still remain high. ==CHEN CHI-CHUNG, Deputy Minister, Council of Agriculture== In the event of similar situations in the future, the Council of Agriculture will launch special projects to import vegetables before the typhoon strikes. This used to be the job of Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Company, but we cannot force them to do so now because its board is no longer controlled by the government. Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung stated that the Ministry of Council is having difficulties in stabilizing vegetable prices because it is currently unable to directly import fruits and vegetables. In the future, it will launch special projects to carry out this task to prevent market manipulation. Justice Minister Chiu Tai-san has also demanded that prosecutors' offices look into the situation. TRANSLATED BY：LUKE CHIANG 颱風過了，菜價卻居高不下，民怨四起，讓行政院長林全說重話，要求相關單位嚴加查訪，看看是否有人為操縱的情形，今天行政院消保處消保官前往大賣場，逐一檢視菜價，發現雖然有部分蔬果價格已經微降，但是像青江菜、空心菜等的價格卻持續上揚。 傳統市場裡，攤子上看得到的青菜，每樣都貴，婆婆媽媽們只能保守的挑著買，菜市場的攤販也無奈。 ==攤商== 很多人都在問 問價錢 問一問不得已也要買 颱風過了，菜價卻沒跟著降，民怨四起，讓行政院長林全親自下指示，要求公平會、消保會和農委會每天查核市場供需，看看有沒有被壟斷或哄抬，一早，消保官就到大賣場，對架上的蔬果進行檢視。 ==行政院消保處消保官 王德明== 這個東西為什麼一直持續偏高 我想公平會的同仁也在場 當然公平法它的處罰非常嚴格 處罰一次的話 最重可以罰到2500萬元 王德明指出，農委會除了已經釋出大量庫藏蔬菜，也協調上游業者釋出平價蔬菜，但是居高不下的菜價，問題出在哪？ ==農委會副主委 陳吉仲== 就是農委會未來在遇到 這樣的情形的時候 他可以採取的機制應該是在 颱風還沒有來的時候 我就可以所謂的專案政策進口 本來這件工作是透過 台北農產運銷公司在進行 但是因為我們的官股所占的席次 已經沒有超過半數 所以經營階層 我們沒有辦法指揮 陳吉仲表示，因為目前無法直接進口蔬果，在進口蔬菜的價格上難以掌控，未來將透過專案進口蔬果，避免被少數進口商操控，同時法務部長邱太三也下令，要求各地檢署，針對是否有菜蟲趁機哄抬物價之事，全面查辦 記者 郭采彥 張梓嘉 台北報導