The Council of Agriculture held a press conference to explain the suspension of registration of aquatic products exported to China and the corresponding measures. On the right is Chen Jizhong, chairman of the Council of Agriculture, and on the left is Zhang Zhisheng, Director of Fisheries.

(Photo by reporter Tian Yuhua)

[Reporter Yang Yuanting/Report from Taipei] The General Administration of Customs of China announced on its website yesterday (8th) that there is only one company in Taiwan whose aquatic products can still be imported into China. Baby squid, squid, saury, and skipjack are almost completely banned for the first time in the ECFA early harvest list; Chen Jizhong, chairman of the Council of Agriculture, said today (9) that we used to transport squid and skipjack To China for processing, in the future, we will assist manufacturers to match with Southeast Asian processing factories such as Thailand.

This is also the first time that the government has come forward to match manufacturers looking for foreign processing plants.

China has almost completely banned the import of aquatic products from my country. According to the assessment of the Council of Agriculture, the overall output value has been affected by more than 6 billion yuan; Chen Jizhong said that if the average output and output value of bulk aquatic products exported to China in 2019 and 2021 are considered, the squid exported to China will be about 3.6 10,000 tons, with an output value of 1.83 billion yuan. The average output of skipjack tuna is 28,000 tons, with an output value of 840 million yuan, 18,000 tons of mid-autumn saury, with an output value of 440 million yuan, and 7,000 tons of larvae, with an output value of 680 million yuan.

Please read on...

Chen Jizhong said that the average output of squid in the past three years is 12,000 tons, and the domestic sales reached 2,579 tons last year. There are 38,000 tons, and the domestic consumption is about 20,000-30,000 tons. In the past, they were mainly exported to China, the United States, and Vietnam. However, before the squid is supplied to the market, it must go through primary processing procedures such as removing the head and removing the internal organs. Previously, squid exported to China It is the same for bonito after processing and then exported to other countries. In the future, the government will assist in matching these squid and bonito exporters to Southeast Asia and other countries to find suitable processing factories.

In addition, Chen Jizhong said that he will assist the industry to open up foreign markets. For the larvae, we will initially target the Southeast Asian market that is familiar with this fish species, and for saury, we will target South Korea, which was originally the largest market. Regulate market supply and demand and guide product value addition.

China has repeatedly used quarantine or administrative measures to cause obstacles to the trade of our agricultural products. The previous measures taken by the Council of Agriculture were to expand domestic and foreign marketing. This time, after China suspended the import of squid and skipjack to Taiwan, it was the first time for the Council of Agriculture to adopt matchmaking. Measures for manufacturers to find suitable processing plants in other countries.

In addition, China's administrative means of suspending the registration of imports has made it almost impossible to export aquatic products from Taiwan. Is it because all series of aquatic products in my country's first ECFA early harvest list have been wiped out?

Zhang Zhisheng, director of the Fisheries Agency, said that consolidation is still needed, and it is still uncertain.

The aquatic products in the ECFA Early Harvest List include live grouper, other fresh and frozen fish (mullet, grouper, trevally, swordfish, etc.), other frozen fish (saury, larvae, etc.), other frozen tuna, albacore tuna, bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna, etc.), other unlisted animal products (turtle eggs, etc.); among them, grouper has been banned after June 13 this year.