Taiwan refutes SAR’s reports of Covid samples in mangoes
Taiwanese authorities have urged Macau to follow international rules and standards in regards to both trade and the testing of goods for Covid-19, the local Council of Agriculture (COA) said in a statement, which was also backed by Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, a ministry-level government agency handling matters involving mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong.
“Macau should follow proper risk control protocols that comply with international standards to ensure unfettered trade,” the COA statement said, also urging local authorities to deal with the matter professionally, “given that there is currently no scientific evidence that Covid-19 can be transmitted via packaged produce.”
On the line is the destruction of 150 kilograms of mangoes from Taiwan, and mostly the imposing of two consecutive import bans for the product brand, which the Taipei authorities consider as being in breach of international trade regulations.
Nonetheless, Taiwanese authorities also noted that they have not been officially notified of the existence of such bans, which, according to the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM), started on June 30 (in the first case) and July 2 (in the second case).
In two recent reports, IAM informed that two different batches of imported mangoes originating from Taiwan tested positive for Covid-19 upon their arrival in Macau.
According to statements, a total of 25 boxes of the fruit, with a total weight of 150 kilograms, was destroyed before entering the market, with the bureau also informing that it had “suspended the application for import from the brand concerned for one week starting from today [statement’s date].”
Noting that the matter is of a political nature, the COA also pointed out that China had imposed Covid-19-related restrictions on international trade with many countries in recent years and should provide scientific data to substantiate those measures, noting that several countries including Canada, the European Union, India, and the United States of America, among others, have raised concerns over the matter during meetings of the World Trade Organization’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Committee.
In the July 2 statement, the IAM also noted that it was the second time in just three days that mangoes imported from Taiwan had tested positive for novel coronavirus nucleic acid, reaffirming their compliance with “national technical standards.”
“IAM has always referenced the national technical standards regarding sample testing of cold-chain food products for novel coronavirus nucleic acid and strictly implemented measures for ‘thorough disinfection of the external packaging and thorough testing of the internal packaging’ of goods,” the bureau stated.
“So far, cold-chain and dairy products imported from Argentina, Poland, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Hong Kong and their external and internal packaging have successively tested positive for novel coronavirus nucleic acid,” the bureau stated, adding, “The implementation of these measures is aimed at protecting the public of Macau from novel coronavirus infection and is not targeted at any country or region.”
According to statements from the World Health Organization, there is “currently no evidence that people can catch Covid-19 from food, including fruits and vegetables.”
