Enhancing international cooperation

　In 2008, the COA held bilateral agricultural meetings with Canada, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, the Netherlands, and Germany, as well as with a technical exchange meeting with the Ryukyu Islands. The COA also sent representatives to discuss agricultural issues during Ministry of Economic Affairs’ economic consultation meetings with New Zealand and the EU. The meetings led to a commitment from the president of the EU’s Community Plant Variety Office to visit Taiwan in March 2009 during the Taiwan International Orchid Show to further discuss possible cooperation. The COA set up a cooperative relationship with the Netherlands to develop plant variety testing technology, Canada agreed to further discussions regarding applications for bilateral plant variety rights and agreed to further cooperation on the training of agricultural technicians. Additionally, Taiwan will enhance cooperation with Germany on rural village revitalization plans. In order to expand international fishery cooperation, the COA enabled cooperation between Taiwanese fishing vessels and 22 separate regions and nations, including Micronesia, to embark on a total of 481 sea outings in 2008. The COA took part in 28 meetings of international regional fishing organizations such as ICCAT, IATTC, IOTC, WCPFC, and CCSBT to protect the rights of the Taiwanese fishery industry.

　The COA publicized the achievements of Taiwanese agricultural development within Asia and endeavored to better understand the agriculture of Southeast Asia and regional market demands. This year, Taiwan invited Thai agricultural researchers to Taiwan to study soil and water conservation, animal husbandry improvements, and farmers’ organizations. Taiwan assisted the Philippines with improvements in duck production and pesticide residue testing for produce. The COA also invited Japanese seed and seedling experts to Taiwan to set up a cooperative relationship, with the total 56 personnel.

　Since the opening of the WTO Doha round in November 2001, agricultural issues have been a major concern for governments around the world. Countries have different agricultural development state and benefit consideration on policies, depending on if they are importers or exporters and whether they are developed or developing nations. Although the chairpersons of the agricultural negotiating groups circulated their first draft of negotiating texts for agricultural modalities in July 2007, revised drafts were again issued in February, September, and December of the following year. These were followed by negotiations, but due to different stances among members, no consensus was reached. In order to integrate Taiwan’s negotiating positions, the COA established the WTO agricultural negotiation subcommittee, requesting relevant departments to continue to pay close attention to the issuing and collection of negotiation materials. The subcommittee drafted a negotiation strategy, attended the G-10 meeting, and worked together with other new WTO members to strive for the largest benefits for Taiwanese agriculture in the international market and protect the sustainability of agricultural development in Taiwan.

Enhancing global marketing

　Promoting Taiwan’s agricultural goods to the world

　In 2008, the COA worked to actively expand the global market for Taiwanese agricultural products, assisting agro-businesses in attending a total of 31 international food-related exhibitions in Japan, mainland China, Hong Kong, America, and the Middle East. These included the Taiwan International Orchid Show 2008 and Taipei Food Exhibition 2008 held in Taiwan. The COA also held 25 promotions and activities to build an image of quality and safety for Taiwanese products in target markets such as Japan, mainland China, and America. In 2008, the total value of exported agricultural products reached US$3.849 billion, a 12.1% increase over the US$3.433 billion exported the previous year. Of the total, US$509 million represents 29 products directly related to agricultural workers requiring little additional processing: paddy rice, butterfly orchids, green soybeans, bananas, tea, Taiwan tilapia, sea eel, and duck meat. This is a 15.9% increase over the previous year’s total of US$439 million.

　Efforts to expand the market for ornamental fish in the EU paid off in 2008, with exports of ornamental fish up 18.2% over 2007 to US$2.704 million. In 2008, Taiwan was the beneficiary of export restrictions instituted by key rice exporting nations, with rice exports rocketing to US$41.394 million, which represents more than a 100-fold increase over 2007. The COA provided supply chain management assistance to high-standard fruit orchards and held activities to promote Taiwanese fruit in Japan and mainland China. In 2008, mango exports reached US$10.052 million, a 2.3% increase over 2007. Pineapple exports increased by 27.5% over 2007 and totaled US$741,000. Wax apple exports were valued at US$224,000, an increase of 9.3% over the previous year. Our efforts to expand foreign markets bore fruit in 2008, with the exported values of many items significantly higher than the previous year. Taiwan tilapia exports increased by 30.7% to US$86.217 million. Green soybean exports totaled US$45.82 million, up 15.2% over 2007. Pork exports reached US$9.546 million, a 37.0% year-on-year increase. Duck meat exports were valued at US$24.485 million, increasing 6.8% over 2007. Egg exports increased 53% to US$2.656 million. Tea exports were up 8.5% to a total of US$14.761 million. Butterfly orchid exports, valued at US$52.239 million, were up by 5.3%.

　After the solution of an earlier quarantine issue, Chile allowed importation of Taiwanese star fruit in 2008, further expanding markets for Taiwan’s fruits.

　Enhancing export supply chain management

　The COA promoted the establishment of high-quality orchards to grow 12 types of fruit, chosen based on market competitiveness. Each orchard instituted a quality assurance program to monitor the entire production, enhanced testing for pesticide residues, implemented thorough procedures to prevent infestations, and registered the fruit in the food traceability system. This comprehensive program of supply chain management allows orchards to control the entire process of production, processing, and sales. In total, 5,600 hectares of high-standard orchards were established that exported 15,461 metric tons of fruit. The COA also held 121 training sessions. Additionally, before mangoes are exported to Japan, they are first held in quarantine for random pesticide residue testing.

　In order to establish a safety management system of duck meat for export, industry organizations created a registry of all producers of duck meat for export and the duck farms with which they contracted. The contracted farmers recorded the number of birds, number of deaths, feed quantities, food additives, medicine records, and the disinfecting and inoculation processes for establishing a traceable production system.. In addition, two weeks prior to slaughter, random drug residue tests are performed to ensure the safety and quality of the export meat. In 2008, Taiwan exported 4,908 tons of duck meat. Over the year, a total of six export producers and 224 contract farms were registered. The COA assisted 100 contract farms in setting up a record system and performed 376 random drug residue tests.

　In order to develop ornamental fish into a key export, the COA has performed a survey of the species and quantities of ornamental fish farmed in Taiwan and collected data on a total of 236 ornamental fish farms. The COA has assisted ornamental fish organizations to hold two exhibitions and attend one exhibition abroad, while also holding educational programs and working to expand ornamental fish marketing channels. In order to establish Taiwan as a fishery breeding center in the Asia Pacific, the COA has recorded data on 142 fish breeders, aided fish breeding associations in attending international exhibitions, and expanded the market abroad for Taiwanese fish breeding stock. In order to get a handle on the newest industry developments, the COA surveyed domestic fish breeders regarding monthly output and other details. The COA also held three industry and technology forums to promote exchange of information between firms in the industry to increase competitiveness.