Results of the General Inspection of the Country-of-Origin Labeling on Beef in Counties and Cities
2012/10/30
Local Public Health Bureaus have generally been mobilized for the “Reinforced Inspection for the Mandatory Labeling Program” since September 12, for checking and guiding businesses in labeling the country of origin on beef ingredients, particularly for pre-packaged food, bulk food and places where food is served. By the morning of October 17, a cumulative total of 21,647 places had been inspected, with 21,566 passing the inspection, i.e., a passing rate of 99.6%. Among them, 4,986 suppliers of pre-packaged food were inspected and all were found to comply with the regulation.
One more place where food is served was found this week to have failed to properly label the country of origin on its beef ingredients, adding up to a total of 81 businesses that fail to comply with the regulation. The Public Health Bureaus have requested a rectification by a deadline. Among the 81 businesses, 72 were found to have complied with the regulation after a second check by the Public Health Bureau and re-inspection will be conducted in succession for the remaining 9 businesses, so as to ensure that the public is provided with the correct information.
In order to put the mandatory country-of-origin labeling of beef ingredients for food containing beef or edible parts of cattle into practice, County or City Public Health Bureaus have consistently visited fast-food shops, restaurants, night markets, supermarkets, traditional markets, convenience stores, booth sellers, mega-stores, stores selling Northern and Southern goods, food factories, etc. for inspection on and counseling for the relevant businesses selling beef products (bulk food, pre-packaged food, places where food is served), to see if they have properly labeled their products. In the future, pre-packaged food suppliers, bulk food suppliers and places where food is served that are found to have improperly labeled their products will be punished with a fine between NT$30,000 and NT$150,000 for the violation of Article 17 of the Act Governing Food Sanitation. FDA would like to urge businesses which have not yet labeled the country of origin on their beef products as regulated to do so as soon as possible or they can be subject to penalties.
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