1. Strengthening the management of pesticides

A. Creating sound pesticide laws and regulations, improving the registration and management system

(a) The government promulgated amendments to Articles 10 and 59 of the “Agro-pesticides Management Act” and the COA amended six other sets of regulations and administrative orders, including: Appendix 1 of Article 2 and Appendices 4 and 5 of Article 3 of the “Regulations of Agro-pesticides Specification”; Supplementary 2 of Article 3 of the “Regulations for the Physicochemical and Toxicological Test of Agro-pesticides”; Article 3 of the “Regulations of Agro-pesticides Field Test”; partial articles of the “Regulations for Training and Management of Managers of Agro-pesticides Dealer”; “.Plant Protection Products that Are Exempted from Registration”; and the “List of Highly Hazardous Agro-pesticides.”

(b) The COA also amended three sets of administrative rules, including the scope of extended usage on types of grouped crops or pests, representative scope of use, and implementation method specified in Subparagraph 2, Paragraph 1, Article 4 of the “Regulations of Agro-pesticide Field Test”; the “Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan Operation Directions on Approval for the Departments of the Pesticides Field Trials”; and the “main crops” specified in Subparagraph 5, Article 2 of the “Regulations of Agro-pesticides Field Test.”

B. Implementing pesticide testing, pro-actively interdicting illegal pesticides

(a) In order to strengthen management of pesticide dealers and ensure the quality of pesticides sold on the market, in 2018 the COA supervised local governments in their dealer inspections and sample-testing for pesticide quality. They conducted inspections of pesticide dealers 550 times, and sample tested pesticides sold on the market 1,000 times. Those who violated the regulations were handled according to law.

(b) In order to strengthen interdiction of illegal pesticides and ensure the rights and interests of law-abiding dealers and consumers, the COA supervised and worked with the local governments to strengthen interdiction. When necessary, the COA also worked with police and judicial agencies in joint actions, catching 45 cases of illegal pesticides (totaling 1.8 metric tons).

C. Inventorying high-risk pesticides, launching a mechanism for their withdrawal from the market

The COA inventoried pesticides used in Taiwan, and, based on new scientific evidence or changes in international use, re-evaluated the hazard they pose to humans and the environment, and implemented necessary management measures. The COA announced schedules for the banning of 12 types and restricted use of 14 types of pesticides.

D. Promoting the plant doctor system, responding to the needs of industries and farmers

(a) In coordination with the “Five Links of Food Safety” proposed by the President and with the COA’s ten-year plan for reducing the use of chemical pesticides by half, as well as the goals of (i) plant protection, (ii) health protection, and (iii) environmental protection, the COA drafted a “Plant Doctor Act” and sent this to the Executive Yuan to seek consensus based on cross-disciplinary communication. Also, municipal, city, and county governments, agribusinesses, and farmers’ production cooperatives hired 25 plant doctor interns to provide farmers with timely and accurate disease or insect-pest diagnoses and precise customized suggestions for preventive measures.

(b) After evaluating the needs of industries and farmers, the COA (i) announced 2,156 extended scopes of the application of pesticides, and also (ii) reviewed, approved, and listed 99 plant protection products exempt from registration. These steps helped resolve the problem of farmers lacking pesticides to protect against damage from diseases or pests.

E. Promoting the rational and moderate use of fertilizers

In 2018 the COA, in coordination with the New Agriculture policy, continued to pro-actively promote rational and moderate use of fertilizers. We held 347 events, including educational lectures and in-the-fields demonstrations. The COA also assisted farmers by offering diagnoses of fertilizer needs for their crops and promoting correct and rational use of fertilizers in a total of 43,449 cases. In addition, the Taichung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station and the Food and Fertilizer Technology Center for the Asian and Pacific Region jointly held an international workshop on “Smart Use of Fertilizers for Environmentally Friendly Agriculture.” They invited scholars and experts from Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam to present papers or give lectures. The event also included visits to farms, demonstrating Taiwan’s experience with fertilizer management based on both scientific research and case studies.

(2) Mapping out the ten-year program for reducing chemical pesticide usage by half

In line with the international trend toward reducing the risks from pesticides and to maintain the safety of food and agriproducts in Taiwan, the COA has been promoting a ten-year program for reducing pesticide usage by half. The goal is to reduce the amount of active ingredients used for chemical peticides from 9,139 metric tons in 2018 to 4,570 metric tons in 2027 (in other words, from 12.73 kilograms per hectare to 6.3 kilograms per hectare). Experts met and drafted a complete action plan for this ten-year program, including three main management strategies and 12 measures. The plan includes: (i) strengthening overall management and promoting eco-friendly farming, for example by accelerating the development of biological plant-protection materials and subsidizing of materials; (ii) elimination of risky pesticides and strengthening graded management, such as by banning the use of herbicides on land not for agricultural use; and (iii) determining coordinated measures and gradually achieving reduction by one-half, for example by upgrading the professionalism of pesticide dealers and promoting the system of hiring professionals to spray pesticides on one’s fields. The action plan has already been published on the website of the COA’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine. In the future it will be re-assessed on a rolling basis as we move steadily toward achieving the goals of the policy.

(3) Strengthening the management of veterinary drugs

To strengthen the management of veterinary drugs, in 2018 the COA announced: “Malachite green is prohibited from manufacture, import, export, sale or display as a veterinary drug; there is an exemption from this provision when malachite green is used to treat diseases of aquarium fish.” In response to the need for testing of domestic or imported vaccines, the COA also announced the testing standards for “inactivated bacterial vaccine for Haemophilus parasuis.” In case production animals (livestock, poultry, aquaculture animals) or their products fail to meet the standards for veterinary drug residues, the farmers shall have a notice on farm indicating: “This farm is movement restricted and under monitoring for veterinary drugs residues.” This is based on Paragraph 4, Article 32-3 of the “Veterinary Drugs Control Act.”

(4) Strengthening testing and inspection of agriproducts

The COA has adjusted, on a rolling basis, the items for and frequency of sample testing for pesticides for agriproducts that are recognized as high risk or have a high rate of violations. In 2018 the COA conducted sample tests for pesticide residues at the production end for 20,520 items of agriproducts, with 96.3% being up to standards. These included 14,991 sample tests on fruits and vegetables (including 11,589 tests in the fields or at distribution centers and 3,402 tests of school lunch ingredients), with 95.6% being up to standards; 3,229 tests on tea, with 98.7% being up to standards; and 2,300 tests on rice, with 97.5% being up to standards. In cases where the tested products were not up to standards, farmers were forbidden from selling their crops, while the relevant municipal, city, or county government did follow-up education, guidance in safe use of pesticides, and investigation and punishment under the law.

To promote the “Five Links of Food Safety” and upgrade safety management of seafood products, the COA has expanded monitoring of the use of agrichemicals in aquaculture. In 2018 the COA conducted sample tests on seafood products that were not yet on the market 2,029 times, with 99.2% being up to standards; and on seafood in wholesale fish markets 27,330 times, with 99.9% being up to standards. In cases where the tested products did not conform to standards, in all cases we asked the relevant municipal, city, and county governments to hand out punishments and strengthen guidance and improvement based on relevant regulations.

The COA also continued in 2018 to do routine monitoring and testing to ensure quality control of premium poultry products; we conducted 855 tests, with 99.6% of products being up to standards. Moreover, the COA sample tested livestock and poultry products on the market for veterinary drug residues 689 times, with 100% being up to standards.

(5) Strengthening the slaughterhouse inspection system

In order to increase the number of meat inspectors and their professionalism, the COA entrusts the National Animal Industry Foundation to hire meat inspectors who had passed relevant training courses to do inspections. There are already 653 inspectors in charge of livestock and poultry slaughterhouses across the country, undertaking meat inspections under the supervision of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine and its branch offices. In 2018, 8.15 million head of livestock (pigs, cattle, sheep) and 355.34 million poultry (chicken, ducks, geese) were inspected, in order to ensure the sanitation and safety of meat products consumed by our citizens.

(6) Promoting traceability systems for various agriproducts

The COA completed the interface between the production traceability system and the testing data platform, and proactively guided agriproduct producers to join the “Taiwan Agricultural Products Production Traceability System.” As of the end of 2018, the COA had distributed 39,059 agriproduct production traceability QR Codes (an increase of 9,051), for 524 domestic fresh and processed agriproducts, including vegetables, fruit, rice, mixed staple crops, and processed foods.

In order to expand the traceabililty of seafood, in 2016 the COA finalized the “Operation Directions for Taiwan Aquatic Product on Traceability,” and combined this with information systems, so that consumers can swipe the product QR Code right where the product is sold to immediately get information about the product and the producer. Through 2018 we had guided 782 producers to get QR Codes, covering 63 different products, with production volume of about 23,460 metric tons.

As of the end of 2018, the coverage rate for the label for the “Domestic Fresh Pork Traceability System” reached 70%. Consumers can use the eight -digit traceability code on the label to search for the date on which the hog was sold wholesale, the market where it was sold wholesale, and the farm of origin. The COA also continued to promote the “Taiwan Beef Traceability System,” providing consumers with the ability to search for information about the farm where the animal was raised, the slaughterhouse, and the butchering factory, and making it easier to differentiate domestic from imported beef. Also, as of September 1, 2015, there must be an egg traceability label attached to the outside of the containers used for non-packed eggs. Finally, on August 1, 2017, the COA launched the “Domestic Fresh Poultry Meat Tracing Platform,” and on the 30th of the same month completed the “Domestic Washed-and-Graded Egg Tracing System.” Consumers can use the QR Code to inquire about poultry slaughterhouses, access livestock farm information, and trace the washing-and-grading site for eggs.

(7) Building dependable certification systems

In Taiwan there are four agricultural product certification systems, including (i) Organic, (ii) Traceable Agricultural Products (TAP), (iii) Certified Agricultural Standards (CAS), and (iv) Good Agricultural Practice (GAP). However, the legal basis, marks, systems, and certification mechanisms are all different, making it difficult for consumers to understand the meaning and value of each certification system. In order to bring into play the full value of agricultural product marking systems, the COA has planned to reorganize the existing certification systems into “Organic” and “Taiwan Good Agricultural Practice” (TGAP), to facilitate understanding, recognition, trust, and use of labels in the consumer market and to align with international practices.

For the “Organic” system, because the “Organic” mark was too similar with the CAS mark, causing confusion among consumers, on August 24 of 2018, the COA announced new graphics for the Organic mark. The new graphics, selected from among new designs by an Internet vote, facilitate differentiation by consumers. Also, in coordination with the promulgation of the “Organic Agriculture Promotion Act” on May 30, 2018, the COA blended third-party certification management with the spirit of industrial guidance, and clearly stipulated the guidance measures that the competent authority shall adopt with respect to organic agriculture.

As for the TGAP certification system, the COA combined the advantages of the GAP, CAS, and TAP certification systems, with a certification that covers primary agricultural products and simple processed products to certify that the products are safe and traceable, and have information transparency, from production to the processing end. The new TGAP system incorporates GLOBALG.A.P. certification standards. In the future, it will be promoted based on amendments to the “Agricultural Production and Certification Act.”

In addition, in response to international trends with regard to the legal trade in lumber, the COA’s Forestry Bureau is proactively promoting a traceability system for domestically produced wood and bamboo. Moreover, they have added a category for wood manufactured goods to CAS certification standards, to construct a system to ensure (i) the legality of the source of domestic wood and bamboo raw materials and (ii) quality control over processed products. These measures will protect the rights and interests of consumers and upgrade the sustainability and competitiveness of the domestic wood industry.