Page 75 - 2019 Annual Report Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan

Annual Report 2019 Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan
A. The COA has adjusted, on a rolling basis,
the items for and frequency of sample testing
for pesticide residues for agriproducts that
are high risk, have a high rate of violations,
or are the subject of widespread attention.
In 2019 the COA conducted 20,417 sample
tests of agriproducts for pesticide residues
at the production end, with 97.4% being
up to standards. These included 14,594
sample tests on fruits and vegetables, with
97.1% being up to standards; 2,568 tests chromatography-mass spectrometry. on tea, with 98.8% being up to standards;
(3) Strengthening testing and inspection of agriproducts
and 3,255 tests on rice, with 97.5% being up to standards. In cases in which the tested products were not up to standards, farmers were forbidden from selling their crops, while the relevant municipal, city, or county governments did follow-up education, guidance in safe use of pesticides, and investigation and punishment under the law. In addition, with respect to the issue of monitoring and control of heavy metals pollution in agricultural crops, in 2019 the COA conducted 550 sample tests in the fields, and there were ten cases (nine of rice and one of amaranth) exceeding the limitations for heavy metals stipulated in the "Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation." In total 1.87 hectares of crops were rooted out to prevent them from entering the market.
B. In 2019 the COA conducted 1,996 sample tests to monitor the quality of domestic animal feed and feed additives. Of these, there were eight cases of excessive levels of copper and zinc, five cases in which veterinary drugs were detected, and one case in which the fat in the feed did not meet standards. We have already asked municipalities, cities, and counties with jurisdiction to handle these cases under the relevant stipulations of the "Feed Control Act" or the "Veterinary Drugs Control Act." The COA also continued to do routine monitoring and testing, including testing of the quality of premium poultry products, for which 705 tests were conducted, with 100% of tested products being up to standards.
C. To promote the "Five Links of Food Safety" policy, the COA upgraded safety risk management for aquatic products and expanded testing for drugs used for aquaculture-raised aquatic products. There were 2,053 tests of aquatic products that had not yet come onto the market, with 98.9% being up to standards. We also conducted 25,140 sample tests of aquatic products at fish markets, with 99.9% being up to standards. Cases in which the tested products did not meet standards were transferred to municipal, city, and county governments to hand out punishments and conduct guidance and improvement on the basis of relevant regulations.
(4) Strengthening the slaughterhouse inspection system
In order to ensure the safety and hygiene of domestic meat products for human consumption, the COA commissioned 653 meat inspectors hired and trained by the National Animal Industry Foundation to work under the supervision of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) and its branches to conduct meat inspections in 173 slaughterhouses nationwide. In 2019, over 8.06 million head of livestock and 377.83 million poultry were inspected. The COA also oversaw local governments to pro-actively investigate and close down illegal slaughtering operations, and selected two days per month for simultaneous interdiction of such operations across the country. Staff were assigned by BAPHIQ and its branches to participate in these
Testing for pesticide residues by using gas
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