Taiwan does not allow snail rice noodles to be imported from China and such products must be removed from store shelves in retail stores and e-commerce platforms, Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua (???) said Tuesday.
Wang was responding to a charge by the pro-Taiwan independence Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP) on Monday evening that China was infiltrating Taiwan through the sale of its snail rice noodles in the local market.
Speaking to the media before a legislative hearing, Wang said rice noodles made in China are not allowed to enter Taiwan and that the Chinese snail rice noodles, whether smuggled in or imported under a false name, were all illegal and needed to be pulled from retail channels.
She said her ministry called a cross-agency meeting on Monday, in which it was agreed that all Chinese snail rice noodles being sold in Taiwan would be removed.
In a statement later Monday, the Bureau of Foreign Trade said it had asked all retail channels, including in-store locations, e-commerce websites, and catalogues, to immediately remove the China-made noodles and directed customs officers to step up border inspections.
Those caught sneaking in the products from China will be fined and have their items confiscated based on the Customs Anti-smuggling Act, the bureau said.
Those involved in severe violations of the law could have their businesses suspended from two months to a year or their company registrations revoked in line with the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, the bureau said.
In lodging its protest, the TSP said it received a tip-off that a company called More Hope Co., Ltd., which is registered in Mudanjiang in China’s Heilongjiang Province and has a branch in Taiwan, imported a brand of snail rice noodles bearing Chinese united front slogans.
One of the slogans on the packaging read “You are Chinese, and I’m Chinese too,” according to the party.
It urged government authorities to get them out of retail channels in Taiwan as they are often seen in popular retail outlets such as Cosmed, FamilyMart, and Shopee.
Over the past two years, 8,400 kilograms of Chinese snail rice noodles have been intercepted and confiscated at the border in a total of 791 cases, and the smugglers were fined, the Customs Administration said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel