Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-11-29
Taiwan's largest-ever class action suit is being filed in response to several oil scandals which for the past 2 years have affected businesses, schools and consumers islandwide. Consumer groups throughout the country have allied themselves, holding a joint press conference on Thursday calling for Taiwanese everywhere to join in the filing, reports our Chinese-language sister paper China Times.
Consumers line up for refunds before a traditional pastry shop affected by the oil scandal. (Photo/China Times) |
Taiwan's largest-ever class action suit is being filed in response to several oil scandals which for the past 2 years have affected businesses, schools and consumers islandwide. Consumer groups throughout the country have allied themselves, holding a joint press conference on Thursday calling for Taiwanese everywhere to join in the filing, reports our Chinese-language sister paper China Times.
The
Executive Yuan has commissioned a Consumers' Foundation and Taiwan Consumer
Protection Association to file the lawsuit against Chang Guan, Ting Hsin
International Group, Cheng-I Food, Beei Hae Oil and Fats as well as their mid-
and downstream partners in an attempt to show businesses that unethical
practices will not be tolerated and in fact punished harshly.
Recent oil
scandals in the country have affected more than 500 companies and 1,000
products.
Schools
were also heavily affected by the products foisted upon them. Ten senior high
schools and 25 elementary schools in Taiwan used Cheng-I Food products; six
senior high schools and 48 elementary and junior high schools used Ting Hsing's
oils in their food; and Beei Hae Oil and Fats oils were found to be used in one
school, according to the Consumer Protection Committee. These numbers are
likely to skyrocket if calculations include schools that used these oils in the
past.
Ting Hsin
and Cheng-I Foods were found using oils meant for non-human consumption to
produce cooking oil while Beei Hae Oil and Fats was busted for mixing
non-edible oils and animal feeds oils to produce fake pork oils.
Consumers
should unite to give a stern warning to shady and unethical businesses, said to
Yu Kai-hsiung, vice chairman of the Consumers' Foundation.
Consumers
who had received refunds for products containing the tainted oils but have not
signed a waiver settling with their producers are eligible to join the action,
which is set to be filed in March next year. One individual can demand anywhere
from NT$500 to NT$30,000 (US$16-US$968) in compensation under current
regulations.
The
Consumers' Foundation will handle applications from members of general public.
The Taiwan Consumer Protection Association will help file on behalf of
elementary and junior high schools affected and Taiwan's Ministry of Economic
Affairs will accept businesses' applications.
A class
action against a single company requires at least 20 consumers' applications to
be accepted by courts.
The
foundation is to begin accepting applications between Dec. 1 of this year and
Jan. 5, 2015. Applicants should provide four documents such as receipts and
others, available for download on the foundation's website, by mail or submit
them in person.
Taiwan's
Consumer Protection Association has begun accepting applications from schools
beginning Thursday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare will collect the names
and manufacturing dates of the oils in 15 days and give the information to the
Ministry of Education, which will provide it to schools across the countries to
check if they used the oils in the past. The schools will obtain student or
their legal guardians' signatures to file the class action via the association.
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