DAISO Japan under investigation, say Taipei prosecutors

Well-known Japanese store, DAISO Japan (大創), was raided by investigators yesterday for failing to report its mislabeled Japanese food products back to the government, according to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office.

Taipei City’s Health Bureau sent officials to investigate DAISO Japan headquarters yesterday, after Taoyuan’s Health Burearu discovered restricted products in the city’s Luchu District (桃園市蘆竹區) warehouses on Saturday.

Taipei officials report having uncovered 28 products at the headquarters, among which 13 are said to come from nuclear-stricken areas and 15 are of unknown origin.

Investigation teams found 13 products that came from nuclear-stricken prefectures in the Luchu District warehouses. DAISO Japan had silently pulled restricted products from shelves, but never reported back to the government, officials said.

Taipei Department of Health official Wang Ming-li (王明理) said they are inspecting DAISO Japan’s headquarters and chain stores. Penalty fines will be discussed once its import declarations are finalized.

No High-level Residue Detected in Japanese Food Products: AEC

Atomic Energy Council (AEC, 原能會) Deputy Minister Huang Tsing-tung (黃慶東) said at the Legislative Yuan yesterday that among the 451 food products that passed radiation residue tests, he also promised not a single imported product was detected to have exceeded radiation standards.

“200 becquerels (BQ) was the highest detected radiation residue level, but none of the products since 2011 had exceeded the international standard 370 BQ” Huang said, emphasizing that most detected products had relatively low residue levels and were harmless to human beings.

Lift Ban on Nuclear-stricken Products?

Minister for Health and Welfare (MHW, 衛福部) Chiang Been-huang (蔣丙煌) said that Japan had proposed Taiwan lift restrictions on products from at least four of the radiation-stricken areas from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. This proposal is under further discussion, Chiang said.

The lifting of restrictions on food products from the five nuclear-stricken areas in Japan could be discussed, said DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee (立法院衛環委員會).

Apart from the continual restriction on nuclear-stricken prefectures, the plan to require Japan to provide product origin and radiation testing results is undergoing debate, but Chao points out this plan could hinder trade with Japan.

Chao proposed that Japan should only provide the necessary documents of products from the five disaster-stricken areas. Importing products from nuclear-stricken areas could be discussed by referring to international practices.

While high-risk areas should still be prioritized and bad suppliers will always exist, Taiwan should not damage friendship ties with Japan by insisting on trade obstacles, Chao stressed.