Chang made the comments while presenting awards at a ceremony held at a culture center in Fengyuan City, Taichung County on the opening day of a tea culture festival in the central county.

The festival is being sponsored by the Taichung Tea Commercial Association with the aim of promoting the county's tea produce.

Chang noted that Taiwan produced a total of 19,000 tons of tea last year, with a production value of NT$4.35 billion (US$134.62 million) dollars.

He expressed the hope that Taiwan's tea industry will develop based on the principles of "quality, sanitation and safety" in line with government policy to promote safety in the agricultural sector.

He further urged domestic tea farmers to work to produce a wider variety of top quality teas in order to help "Taiwan tea become the best in the world."

Among the tea farmers cited at Saturday's ceremony was Tu Yong-wei, who received two top awards for producing special-grade and first-class tea.