The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare and public health bureaus jointly carried out a pesticide residue monitoring project on agricultural products on the market and in packaging plants in 2014 through an integrated laboratory testing system in order to ensure the safety of agricultural products. A total of 189 agricultural products were sampled in May. The test results showed that 176 of the products conformed to regulations (a pass rate of 93.1%). The 13 agricultural products that violated regulations were immediately reported to the public health bureaus to trace the sources, and a notice was also forwarded to the agricultural authorities to proceed with follow-ups as required by law. Please see the attached table for details regarding the test results and sampling locations. 

The maximum pesticide residue limits for food were set by the FDA for the purpose of administrative control. They do not refer to the critical point where health hazards may be caused. As prescribed by Subparagraph 5, Paragraph 1, Article 15 and Paragraph 1, Article 52 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, disqualified agricultural products should be confiscated and destroyed. Those who violate the provisions will be subject to a fine between NT$60,000 and NT$50,000,000 pursuant to Article 44 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation. Moreover, manufacturers that refuse to provide information or that provide false information during sampling will be subject to a fine between NT$30,000 and NT$3,000,000 pursuant to Article 47 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation. Source monitoring is the first priority when it comes to food safety, while sampling of marketed products is the last step of monitoring. In order to ensure food safety, farmers are urged to use pesticides in the way recommended by the Council of Agriculture under the Executive Yuan when growing vegetables and fruits. The FDA also suggests the general public choose suppliers with a good reputation or suppliers that are CAS-certified or sell products that carry the Traceable Agricultural Products (TAP) or Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) mark when purchasing vegetables and fruits, in order to make sure the agricultural products that they consume are safe. When washing vegetables, people are recommended to wash the root of vegetables with clean water and remove the root before soaking vegetables in water for ten to twenty minutes and then rinsing them two to three times. Fruits should be washed with water before being peeled. As for herbal tea, it is recommended to discard the first pot of soaking water. These measures will all help to remove pesticide residues. People wishing to purchase agricultural products certified by CAS or that carry the TAP or GAP mark can find relevant information for their reference by browsing the CAS-Certified Manufacturers and Products Search section on the website of the Taiwan Premium Agricultural Products Development Institute (http://www.cas.org.tw/index2.asp), the TAP-Marked Product Purchase Information in the Taiwan Agriculture and Food Traceability System of the Council of Agriculture (http://taft.coa.gov.tw/) or Where to Buy Safe Vegetables and Fruits on the GAP Safe Vegetable and Fruit Information Network of the Agriculture and Food Agency (http://gap.afa.gov.tw).