News
1,200-ton order of Liuchengs oranges from Mainland China
According to the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, there had been a bountiful harvest of Liuchengs oranges this year. During the second Chiang-Chen meeting in Taipei in early November Mainland China had expressed interest in facilitating sales of Taiwanese oranges in Mainland China. After some enthusiastic discussions between Yunlin Farmer United Logistics Center and Kaohsiung Agriculture Development Company from Taiwan and Chaoda Modern Agriculture Limited from Mainland China, a decision had been made on Dec. 9 for China side to purchase 1,200 tons of Taiwan Liuchengs oranges to prepare the way for selling Taiwan’s fruits in Mainland China.
The Council of Agriculture pointed out that for the purpose of balancing this year’s orange supply and demand, several mechanisms including corporate sponsorship of orange trees, establishing orange juice bar, orange picking activities, direct distribution of fresh products, promotion for freshly squeezed juice, and managing buying and processing had been initiated as soon as the harvest reached its height. This export order successfully negotiated with Mainland China was to be filled by all counties in proportion to the size of the area of orange plantation acreage in each county. Fruit to be exported should be 21cm and 23cm in circumference and of which 1,000 tons were to be exported by Yunlin Farmer United Logistics Center and 200 tons by Kaohsiung Agriculture Development Company. The delivery schedule was to align with the availability of direct traffic between the two sides of the strait. The delivery of the fruits was to begin being collected at locations of production on December 15.
The Council of Agriculture further explained that to ensure the success of selling fresh oranges in Mainland China and further the development of a long-term stable market, the Agriculture and Food Agency under the Council specially announced the “Standard Operating Procedure for Harvest and Package Classification of Exported Oranges” to closely supervise the harvest and processing operations meeting the standard. The Agency also announced rules on standards of quality and classification to provide guidance for farmers in the production areas.
The Council of Agriculture stressed that a number of production regulating mechanisms in combination with this order of oranges from Mainland China would provide relief to the over production of oranges in Taiwan. It was estimated that price of domestic Liuchengs oranges in Taiwan would gradually return to normal.
