Several bedding manufacturers questioned the effectiveness of a government campaign against counterfeit Chinese products at a press conference Monday, saying the market is flooded with Chinese products bearing 'Made in Taiwan' labels. Huang Kuang-yi, head of the Taiwan Bedding Industry Alliance, said that Chinese bedding products labeled 'Made in Taiwan' or 'Imported from Europe' are rampant throughout the country. Huang said that while Taiwan imports about 7 million bedding items from China a year, and only several thousand from Italy, most of the bedding items sold at department stores in the upscale eastern area of Taipei City are labeled Taiwanese or Italian products. Local bedding importers' techniques for making fake labels have improved, Huang said. Importers of substandard Chinese bedding products remove 'Made in China' labels after the goods clear customs and replace them with labels that read 'Made in Taiwan,' he said. Opposition Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Pan Meng-an, who also attended the conference, said that President Ma Ying-jeou directed the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) in May to set up a special task force to intensify a crackdown on counterfeit Chinese garments and bedding. Pan said the poor results prove that the purpose of the Ma administration's move was only to shore up support and stifle opposition to the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) that Taiwan and China signed June 29. In response, Huang Lai-ho, deputy director of the MOEA's Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) , said that since the task force was formed May 5, it has seized 26,894 illegally labeled products in 68 raids. Huang said that those who violated regulations are Taiwanese importers, adding that the government should set up a certification system for locally produced goods. Huang also said that violators would face fines of up to NT$200,000 (US$6,230) after being ordered to pull illegally label products off the shelves. Pan said that out of the more than 20,000 seized items, only about 600 pieces were bedding products. He added that the figure was very small given that Taiwan imports millions of Chinese bedding items a year. 