CAS is a certification registered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Executive Yuan with the Intellectual Property Office, Ministry of Economic Affairs.
It promotes domestically produced high-quality and safe agricultural produce and their processed products, enhances the added value of products, and protects the rights and interests of producers and consumers and was introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1978. Only certified products can use the CAS label. Since the certification system was introduced, it has become widely recognized and trusted in Taiwan and is synonymous with high-quality and safe produce, while also being differentiating produce from imported agricultural produce.
At present, there are two categories of CAS; "CA " and "CAS Organic." Although both use design patterns, their meaning is different (compare the table below). All CAS labeled products have been checked by verification institutions and quality is guaranteed. When purchasing agricultural produce, pay more attention to purchasing.
CAS
- Start of implementation: 1989
- Verification institutions: four in total, including the Taiwan CAS Development Association, National Animal Industry Foundation, Food Industry Research and Development Institute, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute.
- Verified products: 16 categories, including meat, frozen food, fruit and vegetable juice, rice, pickled vegetables and fruit, ready-to-eat meals, refrigerated prepared food, fresh edible mushrooms, brewed food, snack food, egg products, fresh cut vegetables and fruits, aquatic products, forest products, dairy products, down.
- Product verification number: There are 6 numbers in total, the first 2 are the product category, the middle 2 the factory number of the same category and the last 2 the product serial number.
CAS Organic
- Start of implementation: 1999
- Verification institutions: There are many verification institutions, a reference list is available at Taiwan Organic Information Portal.
- Verified products: organic agricultural products and processed organic agricultural products produced in Taiwan.
- Product verification number: None, but the verification certificate number should be marked on the packaging.
