Premier Jiang Yi-huah held a press conference this afternoon to update the public on the progress of major measures recently introduced to strengthen food safety in Taiwan.
"Separate control systems for different types of oils have been instituted, and imported oils are being put under strict control to keep out problematic products for the protection of Taiwan's consumers," Premier Jiang said.
"As for ongoing food safety inspections, authorities expect to finish examining 258 edible oil production factories in Taiwan by the end of the year. In the next phase, the government will focus on inspecting raw materials for commonly used food ingredients."
On September 17, Premier Jiang presented eight measures for enhancing food safety: imposing tougher punishment on violators, raising rewards for whistleblowers, setting up a government tip-off hotline, instituting separate controls for different types of oil, managing the recycling of waste oil, implementing three tiers of quality control, tracing food products from farm to table, and reforming the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) system.
More than a month later, these measures are producing visible results, Jiang said. Government agencies have separated control systems for edible oils, animal feed oils and industrial oils. Imports of recycled oil have been banned, and rewards for food tip-offs increased. Edible oil manufacturers are being required to conduct self-inspection, and food tracing controls have been enhanced.
In addition, a comprehensive mechanism for controlling and managing waste oil products has been created, and authorities are taking a close look at the GMP system to make concrete reforms and improvements. An Office of Food Safety has also been established under the Executive Yuan to coordinate and supervise the promotion and implementation of food safety measures.
The Executive Yuan stated that its draft amendment to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, which would increase jail terms and fines for violators, was sent to the Legislative Yuan on September 25 for deliberation.
On October 16 the Legislature's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee completed its examination of this draft. The committee approved amendments to eight articles and rejected changes to nine others. The ruling and opposition caucuses are currently conducting consultation on 19 more articles on which a consensus was not reached.
The central government has already awarded NT$2 million (US$66,667) to the farmer who tipped authorities to Kuo Lieh-cheng's illegal oil operation in Pingtung County and NT$500,000 (US$16,667) to another whistleblower in Tainan.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) amended Article 4 of the Regulation Governing Rewards for Reporting of Food Sanitation Offenses in order to raise the reward for whistleblowers to 20 percent or more of the fine assessed to the violator. Workers who report the violations of their own employers will receive additional rewards as an extra incentive to come forward.
At present, the reward granted to a whistleblower by a city or county government is generally around 5 to 10 percent of the fine. In line with the central government's reforms, the local governments will raise rewards to 20 percent or more beginning in 2015, with some special municipalities allowing their whistleblowers to collect as much as 50 to 60 percent in return for uncovering a major case.
On September 17, the central government's hotline for reporting food safety violations was established (02-2787-8200). As of today 42 cases have been reported on this line, all of which have been passed on to local governments for investigation.
On October 31, inspections of the nation's 27 cooking oil and lard factories with at least NT$30 million (US$1 million) in capital were concluded. Four companies—Cheng-I, Chang Guann, Chang Chi and Ting Hsin—have closed down. A fifth was found to in fact be an animal feed factory, and a sixth was frying the lard it would use itself.
Among the other 21 firms, some did not meet certain standards of Good Hygienic Practices (GHP), so local government health authorities ordered them to come into compliance with GHP within a defined period of time. Those companies that miss their deadlines will be punished according to the law.
The inspection of the 231 cooking oil manufacturers with less than NT$30 million of capital is expected to conclude by December 31.
Imported oil products have also been placed under strict control since October 31. Such imports are now divided into edible oil, animal feed oil and industrial-use oil, and their flow down the supply chain will be closely monitored by the competent authority.
Imports registered under Commodity Classification Code 1518.00.50.00-2, "inedible mixtures or preparations of animal or vegetable fats or oils or of fractions of different fats or oils of this Chapter, n.e.s.," have been subject to import control from October 20 onwards.
All new factories for food manufacturing or processing have also been mandated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) since November 4 to be registered in accordance with Article 13 of the Factory Management Act. To ensure effective control and to guard public interests, these factories must engage primarily in food products and shall not carry out manufacturing or processing of non-food products.
As for waste edible oil, the Environmental Protection Administration since September 15 has devised principles and programs to survey, inspect and guide eateries and restaurants in disposing such oil. Another program has been initiated to bring individual recyclers under the fold of legally registered recycling institutes by year's end. Meanwhile, public recyclers on October 24 began collecting waste food oil from households and other non-industrial sources.
Executive Yuan officials pointed out that the "three-tiered quality control system" is an important food safety management mechanism that consists of self-inspection by the businesses, third-party inspections and government spot checks and review.
Edible oil manufacturers whose capital tops NT$30 million have begun enforcing self-inspection since October 31, ahead of the planned start date of December 31.
Businesses engaging in aquaculture, dairy products, meat products, food additive import and export, and nutrition supplements are required to begin self-inspections no later than December 31.
Manufacturers of starch, flour, sugar, salt, soybeans, wheat, corn and soy sauce must enforce self-inspection starting July 2015. Meanwhile, the government will begin releasing information on industries that are required to undergo third-party inspection of food sanitation and safety.
The MOHW will beef up its inspection capacity as well as bring in expertise and manpower from the private sector. To that end, the Executive Yuan has agreed to allow the Food and Drug Administration under the MOHW to add 70 inspectors to assist local governments in enhancing food safety management.
On the tracking of food sources, a food source tracking and management system was put in place October 31, requiring edible oil production, processing, mixing and importing companies to implement their own food tracking systems. Starting December 31, such businesses with over NT$30 million in capital will be further required to upload their shipping records onto the government food cloud within three working days of such shipping, as well as to switch to electronic invoices by December 31.
On October 27, the MOHW announced that businesses engaged in meat processing, dairy production, aquaculture, food additives, meal box manufacturing, genetically modified food ingredient import, and genetically modified food labeling must implement their tracking systems by February 5, 2015. Manufacturers of starch, flour, sugar, salt, soybeans, wheat, corn and soy sauce will also be required to implement the systems in later phases.
Regarding the food GMP system, the government finished gathering feedback from businesses, experts and consumers on October 30. The general consensus was that the GMP system should be retained but overhauled, and transferred to the private sector for operation under close supervision by the government.
The original food GMP system was established by the government for the purpose of providing guidance to developing businesses. As business needs changed, the GMP system gradually evolved into a voluntary program for companies that wished to certify their products and manufacturing processes.
The MOEA is now planning the reform of the GMP system. In the future, product certification will be handled by third-party organizations that have been approved by the Taiwan Accreditation Foundation. The government will then be able to effectively allocate its resources to monitoring and supervising food manufacturers, ensuring the quality and safety of food and produce, and safeguarding consumer rights. The entire GMP system will be more closely aligned with international accreditation systems, and will be complemented by the three-tier system of self-management by food businesses, certification by independent institutions and inspections by the government.
The government will not reduce its role or functions but will rather devote full efforts to supervision, implementation and enforcement of the three-tier quality control system, said the MOEA. The government also welcomes food businesses to demand higher self-inspection standards, closer monitoring and stricter enforcement of laws.