China Asks Companies to Provide Formulations? 中國要求交產品配方? 薛瑞元:配方欄非必填

China recently announced a ban on the imports of numerous types of products from Taiwan, and there are reports that China asked companies to submit product formulations. Health and Welfare Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan said other countries can submit import applications online and the product formulation box is optional, but Taiwan needs to submit paper registrations with all boxes filled in.

Chia Te Bakery is known for its pineapple pastries, and its stores are always filled with customers. It currently cannot export its products to China after it refused to submit additional required documentation that contained information on product formulations, saying these are trade secrets. Health and Welfare Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan said everyone defines trade secrets differently, but what he cannot accept is that China has different standards for Taiwan compared to other countries.

Hsueh Jui-yuan, Health and Welfare Minister: “They (other countries) can fill in the information online, and there is a note next to the formulation box that is online saying it's optional. However, it asked us to submit paper versions and there is no such note on the paper version that it's optional.”

China has banned imports of fruit and aquatic products from Taiwan, both of which were on the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement's "early harvest" list of tariff concessions. One legislator called for the agreement to be abolished.

Chen Ting-fei, Legislator (DPP): “That's why we were so opposed to it back then, it was because China can unilaterally breach the contract at any time and you won't have any way to suppress the resulting damage.”

William Tseng, Legislator (KMT): “(ECFA) greatly benefits Taiwan's agricultural and fishery products, as well as exports to China from traditional industries. Will China cancel it? We need to further evaluate the possible impact of that.”

On Dec. 13, the Food and Drug Administration announced the latest list of products that didn't meet import standards. It included jasmine with excessive levels of pesticide residue, daikon with pesticide residue, and seasoning packets that violated regulations. Some interpreted this as retaliation against China. However, Hsueh denied this, saying the alternative would be to allow products with excessive pesticide residue to enter. He also said Taiwan has asked China to explain why certain products have been banned but has not received a "good answer."

店裡總是擠滿人潮，知名糕餅業者佳德鳳梨酥，因為不願補交涉及商業機密的產品配方與比例，成為中國近期禁止台灣多項產品進口的名單之一，衛福部長薛瑞元表示，是不是商業機密大家認定不同，但是中方要求各國及台灣的標準，的確不一致。

衛福部長薛瑞元指出：「他們（其他國家）可以在線上去填寫，那在配方的這個欄位，他的線上上面有註明，就是說這個非必填欄位。但是我們國內通通又，他要求我們紙本，紙本方面的話，他沒有註明說這個可以不用填。」

回顧中國陸續禁止台灣產品的名單類別，包括水果、魚類等，都觸及ECFA兩岸經濟合作架構協議的早收項目，因此ECFA存廢問題也被拿出來討論。

民進黨立委陳亭妃指出：「所以為什麼當初我們會那麼反對，就是說你隨時只要中國片面毀約，你就沒有辦法去掌控所有，我們可以抑制的一些損害。」

國民黨立委曾銘宗表示：「（ECFA）那對台灣的農漁產品，還有傳統產業出口到中國大陸有重大的助益，中國大陸是不是會取消，那可能的影響，恐怕要做進一步的評估。」

食藥署13日公布最新邊境食品不合格名單，包括6項農藥超標的茉莉花、農藥殘留的白蘿蔔以及違規的調味盒等，被外界解讀是對中方的反制。不過薛瑞元受訪時否認，僅表示難道要讓農藥超標的產品進口國內嗎？至於台灣產品出口頻頻受阻，薛瑞元也強調，一直都有請中方說明，但都沒有得到好的回答。