Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, speaks at a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, Sep 27, 2023. Photo:Xinhua

Chinese mainland has resumed imports of groupers from the island of Taiwan starting from Friday after review of product quality improvement, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council Zhu Fenglian announced.
Due to the repeated detection of malachite green, crystal violet, and chloramphenicol exceeding the limits in the imported groupers from Taiwan, the General Administration of Customs of China suspended the import of groupers from Taiwan from June 13, 2022, in order to ensure food safety and the health of mainland consumers, according to Zhu. 

Grouper industry operators in Taiwan have expressed willingness to take effective measures to improve product quality and ensure the safety of groupers exported through various channels. 
Su Ching-chuan, vice executive director of the Policy Committee of the Kuomintang, and Huang I-cheng, chairman of the association for agriculture and fishery exchange, development and investment across the Taiwan Straits, have actively guided industry operators to make improvements and led them in a mainland visit, expressing a strong desire for resuming the export to mainland and providing information on the improvements made by industry operators, Zhu said.

Based on a comprehensive evaluation of relevant rectification measures, the GAC has decided to resume the import of groupers from Taiwan from December 22. Groupers imported to the mainland must come from aquaculture enterprises that are qualified and properly registered.

Some Taiwan grouper aquaculture enterprises have obtained the first batch of registration and they can export groupers to the mainland immediately from today, Zhu said. 

As long as we're adhering to the "1992 Consensus" and opposing "Taiwan independence," both sides across the Taiwan Straits belong to one family. Family matters can be discussed and resolved, Zhu said. "We are willing to work together with relevant parties in Taiwan island to continue providing assistance in resuming the import of Taiwan-produced agricultural and fishery products to the mainland." 


Global Times