To safeguard the customers from buying problematic products and to cover the losses for business owners, the Executive Yuan is establishing 200 million NT dollars in consumer protection fund to oversee potential troublesome merchandizes.

When the Chinese milk scandal broke in 2008, many domestic importers refused to disclose whether their products contained melamine.

Several months ago, a series of botulism cases arose from contaminated dried bean curd.

The government is currently exploring the feasibility of setting up a consumer protection fund to acquire problem products and remove them from shelves as soon as problems arise.

Retailers were asked to take bean curd products off shelves after the first botulism case was reported, but many manufacturers suffered major financial losses even when no problems were found with their products.

After the fund is established, manufacturers of problem products will have to reimburse the fund for the purchase price of the products,

while the fund will cover the losses of manufacturers whose products were found to meet standards.

Consumer Protection Commissioner Hsieh Tien-jen, who proposed the 200 million NT fund, says that the fund will protect the rights of both consumers and businesses and establish a "virtuous circle" in the consumer market.

According to Hsieh, consumer protection groups will jointly seek compensation from manufacturers that profit from harming consumer rights in the future, with all proceeds going to the fund.