China Bans Import of Taiwanese Seafood Again 中方再禁我水產品進口 含秋刀.午仔.魷魚

China once again banned the import of seafood products from Taiwan. Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung said the impact will be more than NT$6 billion. 

The fishing boat returned to Kaohsiung's Cianjhen Fishing Port with 500 metric tons of saury early in the morning. The saury on the boat had already been preordered. According to statistics from the Council of Agriculture, Taiwanese sauries are mainly exported to South Korea, Japan, and China. Exports to these three countries have totaled 1,573 metric tons as of November. Fishermen said the impact of the Chinese ban is relatively small as catches have reduced in recent years.

Cianjhen Fisher: “Of course, there is some slight impact. In the past, China was the largest market, right? Now there are other markets.”

Cianjhen Fisher: “We have peaceful relations with China and trade with them. We are helpless now they want to sanction us.”

Larval fish and squid are also on the Chinese ban list. Pingtung is an important center for larval fish breeding. It takes at least seven to ten months to raise the fish before they can be sold. China is the main market and the fishermen are worried.

Mr. Hsieh, Larval Fish Breeder in Fangliao: “Are you worried? Yes, why wouldn't I be? What is your largest export market? China. So what do I do with all these fish?”

Those who import and export seafood products are also very puzzled because they can't find out the reason for the ban at all. Also, they don't even have a channel to communicate with China.

Chu Ting-yu, Seafood Importer and Exporter: “This time they didn't even offer you the chance to submit additional forms and just blocked your export. And last time, there were still some people you can ask on their side, so we still had a rough idea of what went wrong. This time it's all stopped. Actually, I don't know where the problem is.”

The only one not banned this time is a food processing company in Pingtung, which has been exporting to China for more than 10 years. However, the company said they don't know the reason.

Hsieh Ching-yin, Owner, Food Processing Company: “We don't know much about this situation. We must follow the local regulations of each country that we export to.”

The reason for China's ban has not yet been revealed. Some people in the industry privately speculate that it is related to TSMC's establishment of a factory in the United States, but nothing has been confirmed. The Taiwan Squid and Saury Fisheries Association believes that in the future, Taiwan should diversify its export markets and adjust the industry's scale. However, this requires government assistance.

遠洋漁船載著500公噸的秋刀魚回到高雄前鎮漁港，一早就下漁獲，船上秋刀魚早已被預訂。據農委會統計，秋刀魚訂單以外銷韓國、日本為主，中國佔外銷第3名，到11月為止約1573公噸。面對中國禁令，漁民說近幾年捕獲量變少，衝擊也相對降低，不至於完全沒市場。

前鎮漁港漁民說道：「（衝擊）加減，當然會呀，以前就是大陸都是大宗，現在也是有其他市場。」

另一位前鎮漁港漁民指出：「我們也是都與他們和平相處，有貿易上的往來，他抵制我們這樣，我們也是無可奈何。」

午仔魚、魷魚也在禁銷中國名單內，屏東是午仔魚養殖重鎮，放養到捕撈至少要7到10個月，中國又是主要市場，漁民憂心忡忡。

枋寮午仔魚民謝先生提及：「（你會煩惱嗎？）會呀，怎麼不會煩惱，你這麼多都外銷，外銷那個大陸呀，我們這些魚養一養要怎麼辦。」

進出口魚貨的業者也很納悶，因為完全打聽不到原因，連溝通的管道也沒有。

漁產進出口業者朱挺玗表示：「這次他連補件都沒有，就直接跟你停了，而且上次是還有些人（管道可問），所以我們還大概知道說哪些出了問題。這次是全部都停，所以根本就不知道問題出在哪裡。」

這次唯一沒被禁的是屏東一間食品加工業者，進口中國有10幾年時間，但業者說不知道原因。

公司負責人謝清銀表示：「這個情形我們也不大清楚，進口到每個地區去都是要按照各個地方的法規。」

中國禁令還找不出原因，有業者私下推估跟台積電到美國設廠有關，但一切都沒被證實。而台灣區遠洋魷魚暨秋刀魚漁船魚類輸出業同業公會則認為未來應分散市場、調整產業規模等方向來因應，但這都需要政府協助。