Newsletter
Amendment to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation
In recent years, Taiwan has been rocked by a series of food safety scandals. There was the use of plasticizer or toxic starch in food, cheap olive oil adulterated with cottonseed oil or chemical sodium copper chlorophyllin being sold as pure olive oil, and tainted lard oil, recycled waste oil and animal feed oil masked and sold as cooking oil. Those food scandals have gravely tarnished Taiwan's reputation for fine food, fueling uncertainty about what foods are safe to eat. The competent government agencies are being urged to step up food safety oversight and protection of consumers' health, rights and interests.
The highly anticipated amendment to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation finally passed the third reading of the Legislative Yuan on 18 November 2004. The following provisions in the amendment garnered the most attention:
1. Food companies listed on the stock exchange market or over-the-counter market or belonging to a category and having a scale declared by the central competent authority shall have in-house laboratories to test their own food products. (Amended Article 7)
2. Factories making foods or food additives shall be dedicated to food production exclusively. Making, processing or preparing non-food products at the same factory address or the same plant is not allowed. (Amended Article 10)
3. The central competent authorities may announce to food companies the requirements to issue electronic invoices to consumers and file information on their tracing or tracking system with the government online, and also indicate the penalties for nonobservance. (Amended Articles 9, 47 and 48)
4. Food companies importing food additive combinations shall submit for examination product ingredient reports issued by the manufacturers or exporters in the countries of origin and sanitation certificates issued by the competent authorities in the countries of origin. (Amended Article 35)
5. The maximum fine for adulterating or counterfeiting food products is raised from NT$50,000,000 to NT$200,000,000. (Amended Article 44)
6. The prison sentence for a severe instance of adulterating or counterfeiting food products that is likely to damage human health is now capped at seven years, and a fine of not more than NT$80,000,000 may also be imposed. Where such an act causes a death, the prison sentence now starts at seven years, and a fine of not more than NT$200,000,000 may also be imposed. Where a representative, agent or employee of a legal person commits any of the offenses from Paragraphs 1 to 3, not only will the wrongdoer be punished, but the legal person will be fined 10 times the fine that may be imposed on a natural-person perpetrator. Where the benefits an offender obtains from such act exceed the maximum statutory fine to be imposed, a fine up to the benefits obtained may be imposed. (Amended Article 49)
7. Any criminally obtained assets or property interests from violations of this Act shall be confiscated, regardless of whether they belong to the criminals, except for those that should be returned to the victims. (Amended Article 49-1)
8. The competent authorities are empowered to confiscate or retrieve assets or property interests criminally obtained by food companies. (Amended Article 49-2)
9. Food companies violating the law and causing damage to consumers shall be held liable for compensation, and the maximum damages are raised. (Amended Article 56)
10. The sources and application of the food safety protection funds have been expanded. (Amended Article 56-1)