The Council of Agriculture (COA) said the CAS label for quality Taiwan agricultural products obtained its trademark registration certificate in April 2011, so that those products are protected by law and prevent counterfeiting when sold in China. To capitalize this marketing opportunity, the COA specially assisted Taiwan Premium Agricultural Products Development Institute in sponsoring “the 2 ^nd Cross-strait trade confedevce for Premium Taiwan Agricultural Products in Beijing in 2011. COA Vice Minister Huang Yu-tsai attended the opening ceremony at the head of the Taiwan delegation of CAS cvmpavies, explained to mainland Chinese news media and consumers that CAS label means “peace of mind, safety, quality assurance,” and invited china’s residents and businesses to visit CAS Taiwan products at display to facilitate tvade opportunities.

CAS Products Featuring “Produced in Strict Process with Raw Materials from Taiwan” Do Meet Mainland Market China’s Requirements

Since Taiwan and China signed the Cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) last year, the effect on the export of Taiwan agricultural products to china has imcreased gradually. As of the end of October 2011, Taiwan agricultural products exported to the mainland totaled US$536 million, increasing 26% over the same period of 2010. After the tariff rates on 18 items of agricultural products on the ECFA early harvest list were lowered to zero on January 1, 2011, the export of theses products to China totaled US$95.7 million between January and October, a 154% growth as compared with the same period in 2010.

Therefore, the Council specially attached importance to this opportunity of expanding exports to China because CAS premium Taiwan agricultural products featuring “produced in strict process with raw materials from Taiwan” do meet China’s market requirements. The CAS label system has been implemented in Taiwan for more than 22 years and now have 6,526 different products with output value totaling NT$45 billion. All CAS products are made using Taiwan’s crop forest, fish and livestock products as raw materids produced in Taiwan, and their quality is guaranteed under the strict label management system. The COA makes random checks on more than 3,000 items of CAS products, not only winning the trust of local consumers but also providing China’s consumers with premium brands of Taiwan agricultural products on the Chinese market.

Markets Opportunities of NT$200 Million Are Expected After Negotiations for Premium Taiwan Agricultural Products

The Council of Agriarltnre noted that “the 2 ^nd Cross-strait Trade Confevence for Premium Taiwan Agricultural Products held at the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing on December 1-4, 2011 is sponsored by Taiwan Premium Agricultural Products Development Institute after holding the successful 1 ^st Confevence in Taiwan, aiming for China’s consumers to better understand CAS products at a close look. More than 50 Taiwan Companies take part in the activity to display more than 400 items of “top, high quality, healthy and safe” CAS products. The cevtified CAS companies will conduct one-on-one in-depth procurement negotiations with potential Chinese buyers and organizations on December 2, and it is expected to create business opportunities of NT$200 million. Moreover, the long-term base for display and sales set up in Shanghai by the COA will open also soon to sell Taiwan’s CAS agricultural products. The Council also plans to set up designated counters for CAS agricultural products in cooperation with China supermarkets, deploying stable long-term channels for China’s consumers to see, buy and eat high quality CAS products and building the gold brand image of CAS Taiwan premium agricultural products. (2011-12-01)