Annihilate Wei Chuan Movement Successful: Food Safety Still Needs Work

Annihilate Wei Chuan Movement Successful:
Food Safety Still Needs Work 
United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
October 31, 2014

Executive Summary: With everyone calling for blood, the Ting Hsin Group finally bowed before the wrath of public opinion. It announced its withdrawal from Taipei 101. At the same time, former Ting Hsin chairman Wei Ying-chong was indicted by the Changhua District Prosecutors Office, who demanded a 30 year prison sentence. The "Annihilate Wei Chuan movement” has reached a critical stage. But the government apparently considers this insufficient. Finance Minister Chang Sheng-ho wants to the Wei family to divest itself of its holdings in Taipei 101. There is even talk about forcing it to "leave Taiwan." Such ruthlessness is uncalled for. Such matters should be handled according to the rule of law.

Full Text Below:

With everyone calling for blood, the Ting Hsin Group finally bowed before the wrath of public opinion. It announced its withdrawal from Taipei 101. At the same time, former Ting Hsin chairman Wei Ying-chong was indicted by the Changhua District Prosecutors Office, who demanded a 30 year prison sentence. The "Annihilate Wei Chuan movement” has reached a critical stage. But the government apparently considers this insufficient. Finance Minister Chang Sheng-ho wants to the Wei family to divest itself of its holdings in Taipei 101. There is even talk about forcing it to "leave Taiwan." Such ruthlessness is uncalled for. Such matters should be handled according to the rule of law.

Ting Hsin finds itself in its current “Annihilate Wei Chuan” predicament because it neglected corporate ethics and social responsibility. It has only itself to blame. As a "prodigal son," Taiwan's Ting Hsin Group once sported a halo. It was treated with deference wherever it went. But it failed to cherish this special honor. It engaged in conspicuous consumption. Eventually even the company slogan, "The food industry is one of conscience," was totally discredited. It introduced rancid oil into Taiwan, contaminating the entire market. The current crisis has rung down calamity upon the food industry and the general public. No one has escaped unscathed. The image of Taiwan's food brands has been devastated. Forcing Ting Hsin to relinquish control of Taipei 101 hardly makes up for the damage it has done.

As Central Bank President Perng Huai-nan said, Ting Hsin "returned to Taiwan empty-handed." It has yet to bring back any funds. It raised 17 billion NTD against the issue of Taiwan Depositary Receipts (TDR). It re-used this "first pot of gold" as equity for Taipei 101 shares. It repeatedly leveraged itself to the hilt. The most distressing aspect is that the Wei family purchased ten units in the Depo complex using only 1% of its own money. It used bank loans to indulge in real estate speculation all across the island. According to statistics, the Wei family owns 25 units of luxury housing on Taiwan. In the name of investments, it borrowed huge sums to purchase land zoned for industrial use, then had them rezoned for commercial use and raked in huge profits. As a result, adding up the bill for this predatory "prodigal son" is an unending task.

The government is attempting to determine just how much Ting Hsin owes. But the government must remember what the food safety crisis is all about. Ting Hsing deserves to be punished for its crimes. But opportunistic downstream industries, underground factories, and rancid oil recycling plants are flourishing. Ting Hsin is hardly the only company that must be punished and stopped. The loopholes in the government's food safety management program must be plugged. Consumer confidence must be restored. Corporate social responsibility must be reestablished. Informed consumer defenses must be constructed. These are more important than "annihilating Ting Hsin."

Take Japan, for example. In 2000 and 2002, the Snow Brand Company experienced two contaminated dairy product crises. Japanese television channels refused to advertise Snow Brand products for two years. The government forced Snow Brand to divest itself of its subsidiaries. They were taken over by the Japan Dairy Association and the National Agricultural and Forestry Central Bank. Once ownership changed hands, new operators rehabilitated the Snow Brand image. The New Snow Brand publishes all its food manufacturing processes onlne. It allows people to visit its plant, on guided tours conducted by the director himself, to restore public trust in Snow Brand. In other words, the operators can be replaced, but the brands do not have to be destroyed. This helps ensure the employee's right to work.

In 2009, the Japanese government improved consumer protection by establishing a cabinet level Consumer Affairs Office. This provided consumers with comprehensive food safety regulation. The Consumer Affairs Agency's responsibilty includes the collection and analysis of consumer opinion surveys, and the  timely publication of food safety information to alert the public. It includes a Consumer Safety Commission of Inquiry to review public complaints on a regular basis. If it perceives a problem, it investigates the cause. It adopts a preventive spirit. It establishes a consumer oriented food safety system.

The Ma government has announced the establishment of an inter-ministerial Food Safety Office under the Executive Yuan. The NSB Integrated Bureau of Investigation, the NPA, the Coast Guard, the Immigration Agency, and the Military Police Headquarters will establish a "warning report" to expand intelligence gathering on food safety. But its members will be drawn from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Justice and the Council of Agriculture, Fair and objective experts, academics, and private citizens will not participate. Therefore the "warning report" will merely be a task force without institutional planning. The Jiang cabinet must offer a more efficient approach. It must enable the Food Safety Office to become truly active. It must establish regulations. It must manage import sources. as well as upstream and downstream food industry causes and effects. It must tighten inspections, encourage whistleblowers, and listen to public complaints. This will make the food safety net even tighter, leaving unscrupulous manufacturers little opportunity to take advantage of the public.

The entire affair is heartbreaking. A contaminated cooking oil crisis led to a collective Taiwanese food industry attempt to "annihilate Ting Hsin." it revealed how the banking sector fought to offer the Wei family huge sums of money, resulting in a huge loan scandal. Given today's situation, do bankers feel no shame?

「滅頂」行動有成，食安重建仍需努力
【聯合報╱社論】
2014.10.31 01:32 am

在人人喊打的氣氛下，頂新集團終於向憤怒的民意屈服，宣布退出台北一○一的經營權；與此同時，頂新製油前董事長魏應充也遭彰化地檢署起訴，具體求刑卅年。至此，「滅頂行動」可謂達到了關鍵的進展。但政府似乎不以此為足，財長張盛和更進一步要求魏家出清一○一持股，甚至有「退出台灣」之說；有沒有必要做到「趕盡殺絕」，似仍應依法治原則處理為宜。

頂新之所以會落至今天「滅頂」的局面，主要是漠視企業倫理及社會責任所致，可謂咎由自取。作為一個「鮭魚返鄉」的代表企業，頂新集團當年在台灣可謂頭頂光環，處處受到禮遇。然而，它卻未珍惜這分特殊榮耀，不斷高調炫富，終而連自己口中所謂「食品是良心事業」的家訓都踐踏殆盡，將讓人反胃的劣質油品帶進台灣，並汙染了整個市場。這次風暴，不僅食品業界一片哀鴻，全體國民幾乎難逃其殃，台灣食品形象更遭受重創。頂新放棄一○一經營權，猶不足彌補它對台灣造成的傷害。

更有甚者，如央行總裁彭淮南所言，頂新當年其實是「空手回台」，並未帶回任何資金。它是靠著發行台灣存託憑證（ＴＤＲ）募得的一百七十億元資金，再利用這「第一桶金」及質押一○一股權之資金，反覆進行高槓桿操作，擴張財勢。最令人扼腕的是，魏家除了購置十餘戶帝寶僅出了一％自備款，更在全台各地利用銀行貸款大肆炒房炒地。根據統計，魏家在全台已曝光豪宅達廿五戶，更以投資名義利用超額貸款購置工業用地，然後變更為住商用地，以炒作地價為能事。因此，今天算一算頂新這筆「鮭魚變沙魚」的返鄉之帳，可謂罄竹難書。

然而，在全力清算頂新這筆爛帳之際，我們也要提醒政府，別忘了這波食安風暴的主題和焦點。頂新固然罪有應得，但在其間苟且鑽營投機的上下游業者、地下工廠、乃至餿水回收業者何其多，該罰、該防的又何止頂新一家？因此，政府的食品安全管理破洞要如何補漏，消費者的信心要如何挽回，企業的社會責任要如何重建，民眾「聰明消費」的防線要如何建構，恐怕是比「滅頂行動」更重要的事。

以日本為例，雪印公司在二○○○年及二○○二年接連發生兩次乳品汙染危機，日本電視台便有志一同地封殺雪印公司的廣告長達兩年；政府並迫使雪印將旗下所有子公司分別出售，如乳業部分則由日本全國農協及農林中央金庫接手。在所有權易手之後，由新的經營者重新洗刷雪印的品牌：新的雪印公司在網上公布所有食品的製程，除開放廠區讓民眾參觀，並由廠長親自導覽解說，以挽回民眾對於雪印的信任。亦即，經營者可以換人，但品牌不必非要毀於一旦，員工的工作權也得以保住。

此外，日本政府為了加強對消費者的保障，二○○九年在內閣府之下成立「消費者廳」，從消費者角度對食品安全進行全面監管。消費者廳主要的工作，包括對消費者意見進行蒐集和調查分析，定期公布食安及時訊息以提醒民眾注意，並設有「消費者安全調查委員會」，定期對民眾的申訴進行審議，若認定有問題，就對事故原因展開調查。如此，以防微杜漸的精神，建構一個以消費者為主體的食品安全制度。

馬政府日前宣布在行政院下成立一個跨部會的「食品安全辦公室」，由國安局統合調查局、警政署、海巡署、移民署、憲兵指揮部成立「預警會報」，以擴大蒐集食安情資；但其成員皆從經濟部、衛福部、法務部及農委會等部會借將，而缺乏公正客觀的專家學者乃至民間的參與，「預警會報」也只是任務編組，欠缺制度性的規劃。江內閣必須拿出更有效的作法，讓食安辦公室真正動起來，從法規的建立、源頭的進口管理、食品業者的上下游勾稽，乃至加強檢驗、鼓勵內部「吹哨者」及民眾檢舉，才能將食品安全網建構得更為周密，使不肖廠商沒有投機苟且的空間。

說來讓人心痛，一場劣油風暴竟幾導致台灣食品業的集體「滅頂」，從而發展成一次對頂新的「滅頂」行動，其間，並揭出銀行界競相向魏家諂媚輸送鉅額貸款的醜行。銀行業者面對今天的局面，能無愧乎？