- Department:Chemicals Administration Ministry of Environment
The EPA, assigned by the Office of Food Safety (OFS), the Executive Yuan, launched with the Ministryof Health and Welfare (MOHW) the 2018 Joint Action Plan for Inspecting Chemical Raw Material Enterprises That Also Sell Food Additives (107 年兼售食品添加物之化工原料業者專案聯合稽查行動計畫 ). Control measures that increase environmental and sanitary inspections will be used to prevent non-food grade chemicals from entering the food production chain systematically to ensure food safety and citizens’ health
The EPA stated that the OFS maps out main inspections every year to prevent future food safety incidents. This year the OFS specifically required the EPA to collaborate with the MOHW to conduct joint inspections on chemical raw material enterprises that also sell food additives. A total of 268 enterprises were picked out for inspections. With inspections and assistance, it is hoped to increase voluntary management efficiency to prevent abuse and misuse of non-food grade chemicals to safeguard citizens’ health.
The EPA pointed out that cross-departmental inspection has been carried out on 57 chemicals with risks on food safety since February 2017. All chemical raw material enterprises were first targeted for inspections and promotion of four major managements to increase risk awareness. A total of 3,117 enterprises were visited in 2017, and 901 inspections had been carried out by the end of June 2018. Many enterprises were discovered to still have room for improvement on management. Many of them, who also sell food grade additives, considered that their products were for industrial use and thus did not register and report data on MOHW’s Food and Drug Enterprise Registration Platform. It is against the principle of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), which focuses on tracking the food f low. Also, these enterprises may cause food safety risks like chemical raw material misuse or abuse downstream due to poor management from lack of competent authorities’supervisions, assistance, and information.
The EPA stressed that the Plan is a collaboration between and carried out by the central and regional governments. They are respectively in charge of inspecting enterprises’ management of toxic chemicals, providing assistance on voluntary chemical management, food enterprise registration, random inspections for labels of food additive products, and food additive management. Environmental agencies will put all of their inspection forces on 13 toxic chemicals with risks on food safety announced on 25 September 2017. Enterprises should follow all regulations and fulfill all requirements before the deadlines. Failing to do so will result in fines from NT$60,000 to NT$500,000 according to the Toxic Chemical Substance Control Act (毒物化學物質管理法).
Both the EPA and MOHW emphasized their determination to continue close collaborations on tightened chemical substance management. Operation, controls, and flow tracking on toxic chemicals, chemical raw materials, and food additives are also strengthened. If discovered, all illegal operations and additions will be punished in accordance with the Toxic Chemical Substance Control Act and the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation.
Source: EPA Major Environmental Policies, July 2018
