TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The Taipei District Prosecutor's Office (北檢) initiated an inquiry on Monday (Oct. 28) into a controversial egg import case involving the former and current minister of agriculture and the former president of the National Animal Industry Foundation (NAIF, 中央畜產會).
They summoned the three individuals, including Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲), Chen Chun-chi (陳駿季), and Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢), as defendants in the investigation, which remains ongoing as of Monday morning.
The controversy began in 2023 when Taiwan faced an egg shortage. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA, 農業部) imported eggs from Brazil, awarding the contract to a one-person company, Ultra Source (超思), established merely a year with a capital of NT$500,000. Opposition parties have questioned potential collusion between government officials and businesses.
The Control Yuan's (監察院) report revealed that the NAIF, under the Ministry of Agriculture's direction, managed an emergency egg supply and demand adjustment plan in 2022. From March to May of that year, the foundation contracted Brilliance Biotechnology Ltd. (亮采) to import eggs from Japan. Later, between August and November, it procured Japanese eggs from Ultra Source through spot purchases.
According to the Control Yuan, the foundation collaborated with Ultra Source before the company's official registration to purchase Japanese eggs. The foundation failed to inspect the quantity and quality of the imported eggs and retroactively filled out a performance confirmation document to verify the purchase quantities. This led to the case being referred to prosecutors for investigation.
