Under the Taiwan-U.S. Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) American peanuts will enter Taiwan with the advantage of zero tariffs and exemption from the Special Safeguard (SSG) mechanism. If this takes effect, U.S. peanut prices could drop to as low as 40% of Taiwan peanut prices, affecting an estimated 20-30% of Taiwanese peanut farmers. To address the potential impact, the Agriculture Ministry announced the launch of a “Taiwan Peanut” label this Tuesday.

The label is open for application by businesses and farmers’ groups and can only be granted to products grown and produced entirely in Taiwan, with no imported peanuts or peanuts from unidentified sources mixed in. Minister Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) said that promoting the label aims to effectively distinguish domestic peanuts from imports and win recognition from domestic consumers.

Domestic peanut consumption, calculated on an in-shell basis, is about 56,000 metric tons annually, 75% of which is supplied domestically. Over the past five years, domestic peanut cultivation area has ranged between 17,000 and 19,000 hectares, with annual production of 42,000 to 54,000 metric tons.

As for whether the label will eventually extend to processed products like peanut oil, Chen said deeper processed products will be included in a second phase. He added that peanut authentication must be registered and announced with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Going forward, as the label program is implemented, the ministry will work with the FDA to strengthen market spot-checks to ensure the label's credibility.