China halts some Taiwanese food imports over ingredients labeling issue

China has halted imports of seafood, pastries, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages from Taiwan due to the exporters' failure to properly report the ingredients in customs declarations, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported Wednesday.

China banned squid, Pacific saury, confectionery, Taiwanese beer, Kinmen Kaoliang liquor, and various non-alcoholic beverages from Taiwan, the media said.

According to Taiwanese Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Wu Show-mei, all goods exported from Taiwan must be labeled with the ingredients and their percentage in the product.

But exporters found that there is too much red tape involved, while some producers also believe that the requirement endangers their trade secrets, the media said.

Last week, China suspended some shipments of beer, liquor and other beverages from Taiwan, just two days after Taiwanese seafood exporters found themselves locked out of the Chinese market, Taiwan Focus reported.

Commenting on the ban on Taiwan's seafood, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperon with China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said that the new registration system, which was introduced in April 2021 in a bid to enhance food safety, became effective on Jan. 1, 2022.

Zhu said some of Taiwan's food exporters failed to provide full information, under the new registration system, so they were unable to secure approval to ship their products to China.

Cheng Wei-chih, head of the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) food section, confirmed the ban on Taiwan's beer and liquor.

Cheng said the FDA received a notice from the Chinese customs authorities late Friday afternoon, which said the affected Taiwanese exporters failed to provide the necessary information in their registration.

( With inputs from ANI )