As negotiations for the “early harvest” under the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) concluded on June 24, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said the government has fulfilled its commitment not to open the Taiwan market to more items of Chinese agricultural products because the opening of Taiwan market and lowering of import tariffs are not on the negotiation agenda. Besides, China gave duty-free preferential treatment to 18 items of Taiwan farm and fish products, including tea, Oncidium, golden needle mushroom, grouper and milkfish.

According to the 2009 statistics, exports of the 18 Taiwan’s agricultural items on the list to China are expected to be exempted from import tariffs of US$2.23 million yearly. Taiwan’s agricultural products will become very competitive in the Chinese market due to the duty-free measure and their export value in the next 3 years is expected to increase from US$16.08 million in 2009 to US$110 million, practically helping Taiwan’s agricultural exports to China.

In order to protect the interests of Taiwan farmers, agricultural officials had insisted on maintaining the current import ban on 830 items of Chinese agricultural products and the import tariff rates on the 1,415 items of mainland products that are allowed to enter the Taiwan market before ECFA negotiations so that the agreement will not adversely affect the domestic agriculture, noted the COA. The Council repeatedly emphasized that agriculture was not involved in ECFA negotiations and the agricultural department of both sides had not sent officials to participate in the negotiations. And Taiwan did not give any China’s agricultural product the “early harvest” preferential treatment.

In response to the expectations of domestic farmers and fishermen, the COA made a list of 27 agricultural product items which have potential for export to the China market to be given to Chinese negotiators in the second official ECFA negotiations on April 1. China has shown its goodwill by giving 18 taxable items duty-free preferential treatment without any additional conditions, covering 18 items of agricultural products, including:

1)       Farm produce (covering 13 taxable items): Oncidium and other orchid cut flowers, golden needle mushroom, banana, orange, lemon, Hami melon, pitaya (fire dragon fruit) and tea.

2)       Fish products (covering 5 taxable items): other live fishes including grouper, other refrigerated fresh fishes (including mullet, grouper and marlin), other frozen fishes (including Pacific saury and thread fin), other frozen fish fillets (including milkfish, albacore, big-eye tuna and yellow-fin tuna), other unlisted animal products (including soft-shelled turtle eggs).

The average import tariff rates for the above-mentioned 18 taxable items is 13.3% and   China imported US$16.08 million worth of these Taiwan products in 2009, collecting some US$2.23 million in import tariff. All the 18 items are products with great export potential. For example, 98% of Oncidium cut flowers are exported to Japan and the industry hopes to export 5 million Oncidium cut flowers to China every year. The current import tariff for the cut flowers is 10% and duty-free treatment will greatly help Oncidium growers expand their China market share. After the opening of direct cross-strait shipping, live groupers have already been delivered directly to 11 China harbors. When the 10.5% import tariff is exempted, grouper exports to China are expected to increase to 10,000 tons, which will greatly encourage Taiwan’s aquaculture industry.

As to the other 9 items including such animal products as processed pork, egg and duck pieces that are not given preferential treatment, China did not include them in the “early harvest” list because of quarantine considerations, noted the COA. The China authorities has begun evaluating Taiwan’s application for import permit after quarantine inspections of these items and our government will actively ask them to accelerate the evaluation in order to promote the export of animal products to China. In subsequent negotiations the government will also continue to try to get preferential treatment for frozen squid, Katsuwonus pelamis, yellow-fin tuna and other fishes to be exported to China. ( 2010-06-24)