China threatens to take Taiwan to WTO over fruit imports

TAIPEI - Beijing threatened on Saturday to take China before the World Trade Organization announced that it would suspend sugar apple and wax apple imports from the island on pest concerns. In the latest spat between the two over fruit, China said it would stop sugar or wax apple imports from the island.

Relations between Taipei and Beijing, which claims democratically-ruled Taiwan as its own territory, are at their lowest in decades, as China increases political pressure to make the island accept its sovereignty.

China's Customs Administration said it had repeatedly detected pests called Planococcus minor in sugar apples, also known as sweetsops and wax apples from Taiwan. It asked its Guangdong branch and all directly affiliate offices to stop customs clearance of those products on Monday.

Taiwan's Minister of Agriculture, Chen Chi-chung, said China had behaved unilaterally without providing scientific evidence, and criticised the announcement for coming during the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated by Taiwan and China.

We cannot accept this, Chen told reporters in Taipei about the decision, which he said his office only received at 9 a.m. 0100 GMT on Sunday.

Taiwan told China it will take the country to the WTO under Beijing's dispute resolution mechanism if Beijing does not respond to Taipei's request to resolve the issue under their current bilateral framework before September 30, he added.

The government will also invest T $100 million $3.60 million to help impacted farmers, boosting not only domestic sales but exports to other markets like Singapore and Malaysia, said Chen

Sugar apples and wax pears are Taiwan seasonalities, though most are consumed domestically. The island is also renowned for its mangoes.

This is the second time this year China has stopped fruit import from Taiwan.

In February, China banned imports of pineapple from Taiwan citing harmful creatures that could come with the fruit. Beijing has said there is nothing wrong with the pineapples and accused Taiwan of playing politics.