Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) The European Union's (EU's) top representative in Taiwan said that the EU was reviewing options against what it called a violation of World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations by Taiwan after rice wine sold for about half its previous price in local shops on Thursday.
"We regret that not enough time was given to allow advance consultation with Taiwan's main trading partners about the change, which we think is not in conformity with Taiwan's obligations, " Guy Ledoux, head of the European Economic and Trade Office, said in an e-mail.
He was referring to the Legislative Yuan's passage of an amendment last month to reclassify rice wine as a cooking ingredient rather than an alcoholic drink.
As a cooking ingredient, the wine is taxed at a much lower rate than alcoholic beverages, enabling the red wine made by the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp. to go on the market Thursday at NT$27 per 0.6 liter bottle, compared with the previous price of NT$50.
"We are completing our legal analysis of the tax reform in light of Taiwan's WTO obligations, " Ledoux added. "Once we have been able to evaluate the changes and their implications fully, we will take the matter up again with the authorities of Taiwan and review our options to see how best to take the matter forward."
The EU and the United States have expressed concern about the new classification, saying that the WTO does not accept the idea of different treatment for domestic and imported products.
The Taiwan government has said it will continue to communicate with the WTO, the U.S. and the EU about the issue.
(By Chris Wang)
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