From Friday 20 May, Taiwan has a new government, and as result of uncertainty in cross-strait relations due to the change of power, Taiwan’s exports of farm products to China have shown signs of a slowdown the Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday 19 May.
A pineapple trader in Yunlin County surnamed Wu said Chinese authorities seem to have raised their standards for pesticide residue on pineapples imported from Taiwan.
In March and last month, shipments of Taiwanese pineapples totaling nearly 100 tonnes were rejected by China because of excessive pesticide residue, Wu said, adding that, in the past, Chinese customs inspectors would only “take a peek” at imported Taiwanese pineapples, but now check shipments on a case-by-case basis.
Some have said that the heightened safety checks are related to the transition of power in Taiwan, while others have attributed them to the discovery of excessive pesticide residue on pineapples shipped from Taiwan to Xiamen last year, Wu said.
“There are many different rumors going around,” he added.
Taiwan sells about 3,500 tonnes of pineapples to China each year, generating NT$350 million in revenue.
