Local firms step up for pineapples
By Yang Yuan-ting
and Lee Hsin-fang / Staff reporters
Taiwanese firms responded swiftly to a call to buy the nation’s surplus pineapple crop after China abruptly stopped imports, with 10 local firms placing orders totaling 1,600 tonnes, Council of Agriculture officials said yesterday.
China on Friday announced that it would suspend pineapple imports from Taiwan starting tomorrow, saying that various types of mealybugs were found in several batches of fresh pineapples bought from the nation last year.
Taiwanese farmers expressed anger and disappointment over the decision.
Pineapples and pineapple-based products are displayed in Tainan yesterday.
Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times
Pineapples grow in a field in Kaohsiung yesterday.
Photo: Ben Blanchard, Reuters 2021/02/28 03:00
OVERHAUL NEEDED: The government should improve its agricultural processing capabilities and expand to new markets to limit its reliance on China, an expert said
By Yang Yuan-ting, Chung Li-hua and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer
Chinaâs ban on Taiwanese pineapples was âunsurprising,â and Taiwan should have years ago altered its produce export strategies and target customers, experts said.
China on Friday abruptly suspended imports of pineapples from Taiwan, saying that it had on multiple occasions discovered âharmful biological entitiesâ on the fruit.
Calling it an âunfriendlyâ move, the Council of Agriculture ï¼COAï¼ said that 99.79 percent of the pineapples sent to China since last year have met Chinaâs import standards.
HPA warns to drink in moderation over holiday
By Yang Yuan-ting and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
As the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, and with it year-end banquets, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) on Friday said that “forcing others to play drinking games” topped a list of unacceptable ways to coerce others to drink.
The agency, citing an online list of unacceptable methods to convince others to drink alcohol, said that many traffic accidents are the result of people being forced to drink at year-end events.
The agency cited a list compiled by the Web site Daily View on the top 10 least-accepted ways of forcing others to drink, which placed at No. 2 telling partygoers that no one was leaving until they were drunk.