[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Taiwan's Council of Agriculture (COA) plans to file a complaint against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to Taiwanese media reports on the 1st. This is due to China's suspension of imports of certain Taiwanese fruits.
According to Liberty Times and others, the COA announced that it will file a complaint with the WTO regarding China's temporary suspension of imports of Taiwanese tropical fruits Banyeoji (Sugar Apple) and Lianwu (Wax Apple). The COA expects to file the complaint with the WTO's Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Committee (SPS Committee) around mid-month and anticipates that the issue could be addressed at the regular meeting next month.
A senior official from the COA explained the background of the complaint, stating that although they had conveyed management improvement measures to China to resolve the quarantine issues raised over Taiwanese fruits through technical dialogue, there was no response from the Chinese side.
In a report at a countermeasure meeting held at the Executive Yuan the previous day, the COA announced plans to stabilize the farmgate prices and farming profits of the affected agricultural products by developing new emerging markets to reduce the risks of a single market, maintaining product freshness using cold chain models, and developing various processed foods.
Chen Zhizhong, Director-General (minister-level) of Taiwan's Council of Agriculture, expressed concern that although the sales ratio of Taiwanese fruits to China rose to 70-80% after the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), a free trade agreement between the two sides signed in 2010, it fell to 43% in the first half of this year. He said that in response to this incident, various measures are being prepared to prevent recurrence of similar situations, and particularly noted that joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) could be one alternative.
Earlier, China announced a suspension of imports of Taiwanese pineapples in February, followed by Banyeoji and Lianwu on the 19th of last month, citing the discovery of harmful organisms in each.
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