TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Three Taiwanese government ministries on Wednesday (Dec. 14) emphasized that they have filed a total of nine complaints against China for barriers against trade as of November.

On April 2021, China introduced a new regulation requiring all Taiwanese food and alcoholic beverage producers to register through onerous paper applications with Chinese customs under the guise of improved food safety. The rule went into force on Jan. 1 and over the past week has resulted in the effective ban of numerous Taiwanese seafood products and alcoholic beverages.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Council of Agriculture reiterated on Wednesday (Dec. 14) that since the 80th regular meeting of the WTO's Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee in February 2020, Taiwan has raised nine specific trade concerns requesting China to correct its unfair practices against Taiwan.

The MOEA's Bureau of Foreign Trade issued a press release stating that at the 79th regular meeting of the WTO/TBT in November 2019, China proposed regulations on the registration and management of overseas producers of imported food.

To dispel the misconception that Taiwan had not filed complaints with the WTO about China's unfair trade practices, the three ministries stated in a press release on Wednesday that they had raised a total of nine specific trade concerns from the 80th WTO/TBT regular meeting to the 88th meeting in November 2022.

The MOEA stated that the U.S, Japan, and the European Union are also requiring China to abide by the TBT agreement, comply with transparency regulations, provide sufficient information, designate inquiry points, and provide a longer buffer period. Taipei also specifically requested that Beijing correct its unfair trade practices against Taiwan.