Beef is required to be marked on the road in various forms

Starting today, the 12th, beef sold on the market must be labeled with its place of origin. The Department of Health, together with the Taipei City Health Bureau, went to the Nanmen Market and the Carrefour Guilin store and restaurant to conduct inspections today. The stores did not have a unified labeling method. In response to this, the Department of Health stated that as long as the font size is appropriate and the label is accurate, the creativity of the store's labeling will be respected.

Starting today, the 12th, beef sold on the market must be labeled with its place of origin. There is no unified labeling method among stores. The Department of Health said that as long as the font size is appropriate and the label is accurate, the store's creativity in labeling will be respected. (Photography by Zhang Yawen)

Director-General of the Department of Health Chiu Wen-ta led a team to inspect the Nanmen Market today. He said that health bureaus across the country will start simultaneous inspections from now on. If beef products are not labeled with their place of origin, they will be fined NT$30,000 to NT$150,000; if they are found to have false labels, they will be fined NT$40,000 to NT$200,000.

Director-General of the Department of Health Chiu Wen-ta (right) leads a team to inspect the implementation of mandatory labeling of beef products. (Photography by Zhang Yawen)

This inspection has been announced in advance, so stores are eager to display the label. However, for "Australian beef" alone, there are several forms of labeling. For example, Australian beef suppliers provide exclusive identification signs, and some stores post the words "This store supplies Australian beef" on their own. Kang Zhaozhou, director of the Food and Drug Administration of the Department of Health, said that this policy only stipulates that beef products must be labeled with the place of origin and font size, and does not restrict the form of labeling.

Due to the comprehensive mandatory labeling requirement, even Taiwanese beef must be labeled; in addition, shops that make beef jerky not only post the words "We use Australian beef", but also indicate on the outer packaging that the raw materials are from Australia in accordance with regulations.

In addition to posting the words "We use Australian beef" in the store that makes beef jerky, the store also complies with regulations by marking the origin of the raw materials as coming from Australia on the outer packaging. (Photography by Zhang Yawen)

Due to the impact of the previous comprehensive inspection of ractopamine, there is very little American beef left on the market. However, the Department of Health has announced the amendment of Article 3 of the "Animal Drug Residue Standards", adding a new allowable amount of ractopamine residues in beef muscle to 10ppb. Therefore, as long as the ractopamine residue does not exceed the standard, it can be imported into Taiwan for sale.

Pan Zhikuan, director of the regional management center of the Food and Drug Administration, said that the announcement came into effect yesterday. As of this morning, three batches of American beef have applied for entry, totaling 39 metric tons. Two of them belong to the same importer and have never been found to contain ractopamine before, so they do not need to be inspected batch by batch; the other batch has a record of ractopamine being detected, so it needs to be inspected batch by batch according to the law, and can be on the market in three days at the earliest.