17,920 kg of Chinese kiwifruit intercepted at border

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) A 17,920-kilogram shipment of fresh kiwifruit imported from China was recently seized at Taiwan's border after being found to contain excessive pesticide residue, Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) said Tuesday.

The shipment of fresh kiwifruit was found at the border to contain procymidone -- a pesticide that can be used to kill fungi -- at a concentration of 0.06 parts per million (ppm), exceeding the 0.01 ppm limit, TFDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said.

The fresh kiwifruit was subsequently stopped from entering the Taiwanese market, Lin added, without specifying whether the shipment was destroyed or returned to its country of origin.

According to information provided by the TFDA, the contaminated fresh kiwifruit from the brand "YANG SHI FRUIT" was imported from a company in Shaanxi, China by Grand Bay Fresh Fruits Co., Ltd. in Taipei and was accepted for inspection on March 29.

In addition to the shipment of contaminated kiwifruit, 10 other food shipments, two shipments of chopsticks and one of paper lunch boxes were also seized at the border, according to the weekly report.

The 10 shipments of food products include two shipments of desserts from Vietnam that contained an illegal preservative, two shipments of curry paste from Thailand that contained a banned sweetener, and a shipment of pizza sauce imported from Korea that contained excessive preservatives.