US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI4156

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 004156 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/RSP/TC 
 
USDOC FOR 6200/ITA/TD 
 
FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV, ECON, TW, IND, AGR 
SUBJECT: Food Supply in Southern Taiwan Faces Scrutiny 
 
REF: A)Taipei 2997 B) Taipei 3566 
 
1.  The food supply in Taiwan has come under increasing 
scrutiny following reports of more dioxin-contaminated duck 
and fish products (reftel A), commercially raised fish 
contaminated with the carcinogen, malachite green, and large 
additional amounts of diseased pork (reftel B).  Moreover, 
most of the disposable chopsticks used in the marketplace 
have been found to be contaminated with bleaching agents. 
The Taiwan Consumer Foundation has called on the government 
to implement stricter controls, after previous measures 
failed to keep dioxin and malachite green contaminated 
foodstuffs out of the market. 
 
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Contaminated Fish 
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2.  According to Shih Shen-lung, Division Chief of the 
Taiwan Council of Agriculture (COA) Fishery Agency, tests on 
commercially raised grouper from 14 fish farms in Pingtung, 
Kaohsiung and Tainan Counties revealed that the fish raised 
in Pingtung and Tainan was contaminated with malachite 
green, a known carcinogen.  The substance is used to prevent 
infections in the fish.  After further tests revealed that 
sixty percent of the grouper in the Taipei market was 
contaminated with malachite green, the COA ordered all 
grouper removed from the markets and placed a one-week 
moratorium on sales.  During the intervening week, the COA 
implemented an inspection system, with the fish that passed 
the inspection being certified as free from contamination so 
that the fish could reenter the market. 
3.  After a week, grouper returned to the market, but 
skeptical consumers caused sales to drop by eighty percent. 
Their fears turned out to be well founded when, less than 
one week after the grouper returned to the market, 
Carrefour, the island's largest retailer, determined that 
grouper it had purchased was contaminated with malachite 
green.  An investigation revealed that fish farmers had 
transferred certification tags from inspected fish to fish 
that had not been checked. 
4. Shih insisted that the existing inspection systems for 
grouper destined for export ensured that the exported fish 
were safe for consumption.  However, Hong Kong officials 
recently detected malachite green in Taiwan-produced fish 
and halted their importation and sale.  The combined loss of 
domestic and overseas sales has had a major impact on the 
USD 85 million per year commercial grouper industry. 
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Contaminated Pork 
----------------- 
5.  On 14 September 2005, police seized over 2,000 kg of 
diseased pork products at an illegal abattoir in Tainan 
County.  Police arrested eight suspects who admitted to 
purchasing the facility, which had previously been used to 
dispose of hogs with foot and mouth disease.  They purchased 
dead and diseased pigs from local farmers and processed the 
animals into sausage for sale in the local market.  Based on 
information provided by the suspects, police subsequently 
raided another facility in Tainan County, seizing 120 
diseased pigs, over 1000 kg of sausage, and several thousand 
kg of diseased meat which was awaiting further processing. 
The group estimated that they had processed and sold 120,000 
kg of diseased pork in the period from purchasing the 
facility in February 2005 to the time of the raid. 
6.  Taiwan's EPA has recently adopted a recycling program in 
which table waste from local households is collected and 
processed for hog feed.  This mandatory program has been in 
effect since June of this year.  The EPA states that the 
waste is heated to high temperatures to kill germs and is 
safe for use.  The COA, however, suspects the waste is 
causing an increase in hog morbidity and has asked for its 
termination.  The Taiwan EPA recently agreed to end the 
program in January of 2006. 
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Contaminated Ducks 
------------------ 
7.  Dioxin also continues to plague Taiwan's food supply. 
For the second time in three months, the COA has detected 
dioxin-contaminated duck products in Changhua County.  The 
tested samples of both duck meat and duck eggs had dioxin at 
levels of more than 7pg/g, more than double the safe level 
set by the European Union.  As previously reported (reftel 
A), Taiwan has yet to establish clear standards.  In the 
present case, COA officials culled more than 3,000 ducks and 
150,000 duck eggs.  COA officials said that they suspect 
contaminated feed and are investigating.  However, previous 
investigations point to emissions from a local steel ash 
recycling plant.  Despite claiming that airborne pollutants 
did not contribute to the incident, COA has begun testing 
rice, fruits, vegetables and seafood from farms in the area 
to determine if they are polluted. 
8.  In further reports from Changhua, Taiwan health 
officials have begun testing farmers in the area for dioxin 
levels.  Initial results indicate that most farmers in the 
area have high dioxin levels.  The dioxin is believed to be 
due to their consumption of contaminated agricultural 
products.  This is particularly worrisome, since Changhua 
County is the largest supplier of agricultural products to 
the Taipei market. 
9.  As previously reported, the COA has banned fishing and 
fish farming in the dioxin-polluted areas of Tainan.  This 
has prompted former residents of the area to return to the 
area in an attempt to claim compensation.   Media footage 
and interviews indicate that many of these people, finding 
the compensation insufficient to make a living, have 
resorted to fishing in the polluted areas to supplement the 
compensation.  Taiwan's Consumer Foundation has criticized 
the government for failing to make any effort to enforce the 
fishing ban. 
 
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Chopsticks 
---------- 
10.  Finally, the government has begun to inspect supplies 
of disposable chopsticks used in the restaurants of Taiwan. 
Most of the chopsticks have been found to be contaminated 
with bleaching agents.  Officials are investigating to 
determine if the contamination is taking place in the 
manufacturing process, or if local vendors are bleaching and 
recycling used chopsticks. 
11.  Comment.  The continued revelations of contamination in 
foodstuffs produced for both the domestic and export markets 
are not only a threat to agri-business interests in Taiwan, 
but also a source of concern for AIT staff who purchase food 
in the local marketplace.  Government enforcement efforts 
and reassurances are of little comfort.  Despite inspection 
systems, both domestic and export grouper are still 
contaminated and, despite major seizures, a huge amount of 
diseased pork continues to find its way into the food 
supply.  Police estimate that they are finding less than 
half of the contaminated pork being processed.  End Comment. 
 
Thiele 
 
Paal