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70 Percent of Valentine's Day Gifts in Taiwan Over-Packed: Survey

Posted on: Saturday, 11 February 2006, 09:00 CST

70 percent of Valentine's Day gifts in Taiwan over-packed: survey

HONG KONG, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A Taiwan survey indicated that 70 percent of the Valentine's Day gifts sold in the local market come with excessive packaging, according to a report reaching here from Taipei on Friday.

A total of 450 packaged gifts sold at 69 counters in five department stores were sampled for the survey conducted by the local environmental protection authority.

The survey found that most of the over-packaging was in the form of elaborate oversized cushioning, too many layers of packaging, or boxes many times larger than the gifts themselves.

Of 250 processed food products surveyed, less than 20 percent passed the inspection, while of the 200 cosmetics products surveyed, approximately 50 percent passed the inspection.

The local environmental protection authority will from July 1 impose the first phase of controls on the packaging of products, and the items to be covered include pastries, cosmetics, liquor and computer software.

The second phase will start July 1, 2007 and will include processed food, the report added.

After the measures are implemented, sellers who over-package their products will face fines up to 150,000 new Taiwan dollars (4,650 U.S. dollars).

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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