The Council of Agriculture recently promoted its petfood bill at the Legislative Yuan public hearing, stressing that Taiwan lacks comprehensive laws to regulate the local petfood industry.

First introduced in March and currently under review, the proposed “Pet Food Safety Management Act” would require commercial petfood manufacturers to provide ingredients labeling and comply with residue levels for harmful substances. Violations of the new standards would be subject to penalties.

Currently, Taiwan's Feed Control Act does not apply to petfood, but only to feed for livestock, poultry and seafood. While the Consumer Protection Law can be used as a basis for litigation, its provisions are often too broad to be applied to questionable petfood.

Democratic Progressive Party legislator, Hsiao Bi-khim, who chaired the hearing, said that a dedicated regulation system based on recognized safety standards can boost the public's consumer confidence, as well as make the local petfood industry more competitive.