3 indicted for falsifying imported eggs' country of origin

Taipei, April 15 (CNA) New Taipei prosecutors on Monday indicted the owner and two employees of a Xinzhuang company for earning over NT$520,000 (US$16,045) in profits selling imported Brazilian eggs they had falsely labeled as products of Taiwan.

According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, the company, Fu Shang Sheng Egg Co., was one of several firms commissioned to process fresh eggs imported by the National Animal Industry Foundation into liquid eggs and sell them to retailers during a nationwide egg shortage that began in 2022.

In August 2023, the company was found to have used imported Brazilian eggs to produce liquid eggs that it falsely labeled as being products of Taiwan, the indictment said.

Even after regulators ordered the company to correct the information, it continued labeling the eggs' country of origin as Taiwan, ultimately taking in NT$520,000 in illicit profits, the indictment said.

Following an investigation, the prosecutors' office charged the company's owner, surnamed Chang (張), as well as two assistant managers, surnamed Chang and Lu (呂), with making false entries on official documents and falsely labeling a product's country of origin.

The case in question stems from a widely-criticized program Taiwan's government used to import over 145 million eggs from a handful of countries amid a domestic shortage from March to July 2023.

In addition to reports of the imported eggs being mislabeled as products of Taiwan, 54 million of the eggs -- 37.18 percent of the total -- expired before reaching the market and had to be destroyed.

The controversy surrounding the program ultimately led to the resignation of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) in September and an apology on behalf of the government by Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁).