Groupers in a supermarket in Beijing File photo: VCG

 
The Chinese mainland is ready to offer help for the island of Taiwan's exports of agricultural and fishing products to the mainland after due rectifications are made, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said on Wednesday

"For some time, the island's grouper industry has expressed through various channels that it is willing to take effective measures to improve product quality and ensure the safety of grouper being exported to the mainland," Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Wednesday during a regular press conference.

The General Administration of Customs (GAC) suspended imports of groupers from the Taiwan island into the mainland from June 13, 2022, after detecting prohibited drugs in a number of shipments from 2021.

The forbidden drugs included Oxytetracycline in amounts that exceeded the standard, read a notice published by the GAC.

In February, Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that the Chinese mainland attaches great importance to the call of Taiwan farmers and fishers to resume agricultural and aquatic product imports from the island.

Song made the remarks when meeting Huang I-cheng, chairman of the association for agriculture and fishery exchange, development and investment across the Taiwan Strait, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Song said that efforts will be made to facilitate the resumption of the entry of agricultural and aquatic products from the island on the premise of meeting the inspection and quarantine standards.

Zhu said that Huang and other Taiwan industry representatives have actively guided the island's industry to resolve previous "red flag" problems, led the island's industry to visit the mainland, and expressed a strong desire for the export of grouper into the mainland.

"Adhering to the concept of 'one family on both sides of the Straits,' we attach great importance to the demands of farmers and fishermen on the island. On the basis of their rectification, we will provide more assistance to facilitate Taiwan grouper exports and other agricultural and fishery products to be exported to the mainland," said Zhu.

During the meeting with Song in February, Huang said that he would work with compatriots on the island to contribute to cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation and the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.

Global Times