USDA: Taiwan agricultural biotechnology 2014

In CY2013, Taiwan was the seventh largest export market for U.S. food and agricultural products, of which GE corn, soybeans, and cotton accounted for 29 percent of the total export value US$3 billion. As of July 2014, Taiwan granted approval for 31 single biotech events and 38 stacked events of corn and soybean combined. Still, new regulations under the Food Safety and Sanitation Act (FSSA) will likely have a significant impact on GE product imports through expanded labeling, registration, and traceability requirements.

 

On January 28, Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan (LY) passed three readings of a controversial amendment to the FSSA. For the first time, the FSSA specifically requires health risk assessment, labeling, and traceability of GE products in food uses. In drafting the FSSA, Taiwan legislators worked in response to anti-GE activists, motivated by a series of perceived food safety scandals. Taiwan’s food safety competent authority at the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s (MOHW) Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) is directed to publish revisions of all existing regulations governing GE products.