(1) Measures taken in response to the African swine fever epidemic in mainland China

On August 3, 2018, the first news about an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak came out of the Shenyang region in Liaoning Province of mainland China. Just four months later, as of December 31, 103 outbreaks had occurred in 23 provinces (areas, municipalities), indicating that the disease was spreading very quickly there. Taiwan is only separated from mainland China by a narrow strait, so there was high risk of the disease spreading to Taiwan. For this reason we took strict precautionary measures.

To prevent the introduction of this disease into Taiwan, the COA, based on the spirit of “not taking the enemy lightly” and “deploying troops in advance,” launched a variety of disease prevention and control measures on August 6, 2018. These included strengthening border controls, strengthening the threat awareness of domestic pig farm operators, strengthening biosecurity at livestock farms, and ensuring the cooking of kitchen waste at farms where pigs are fed food scraps. On August 9, at the 3612th meeting of the Executive Yuan (i.e. Cabinet), Premier Lai Ching-te asked all ministries to fully coordinate efforts, strengthen border controls, and go all-out to prevent the transmission of ASF from mainland China. On August 22, given that ASF was turning into an epidemic in mainland China, President Tsai Ing-wen especially expressed her concern about Taiwan’s disease-prevention situation and response measures, and instructed National Security Council Secretary-General David Lee to convene a meeting of relevant ministries to study preventive measures and to make a concerted effort to block the transmission of the disease into Taiwan.

In response to the severe epidemic of ASF in mainland China, on November 1 the COA formed the “African swine fever prevention plan working group,” which determined four main work areas: (i) border control and management, (ii) information dissemination at the border and disease prevention by all citizens, (iii) strengthening the domestic disease-prevention network and doing guidance and education for the pig industry, and (iv) bringing domestic response capabilities to a state of readiness. We did a survey of the risk of possible transmission of ASF into Taiwan and strengthened all kinds of inspection and quarantine measures.

On December 18, the COA convened the “1st Interminsterial Meeting of the 2018 African Swine Fever Central Emergency Response Center.” Although there had not been any cases of ASF in Taiwan, in order to demonstrate the government’s determination to be prepared to prevent the disease from entering Taiwan, the COA established the Central Emergency Response Center, and the central and local (municipal, city, and county) governments worked together to implement disease-prevention measures in order to keep ASF outside our territory.

In order to ensure that tasks of blocking the disease and response preparedness were being done correctly, on December 26 there was the “National Inspection and Quarantine Exercise for African Swine Fever” held separately at Kaohsiung International Airport, Yanpu Fishing Harbor in Pingtung County, and Kanding incinerator (also in Pingtung). This simulation allowed participating units to familiarize themselves with implementation methods and assess their response preparedness, to establish standard operating procedures, to strengthen rapport and coordination between ministries, and to do reassessment of tasks that needed improvement.

(2) Adjustment of production and sales of fruits and vegetables to stabilize prices

Because the weather was good in 2018, there was a bumper harvest of all types of fruits and vegetables. In order to minimize the incidence of imbalances between production and sales, the COA, starting from the basis of the total production volume of all sensitive crops, provided production plans, estimates, and early warnings to municipal, city, and county governments so they could maintain a grasp of production volume and formulate plans and adjustment measures in advance. In addition, via digital tools such as the webpage of the COA’s Agriculture and Food Agency and the “Field-Side Assistance” APP, we provided early warning information on seedling volume and estimated cultivated area for each tenday period, to make relevant information available from the very beginning of the agricultural production cycle.

To stabilize agriproduct prices, the COA adopted monitoring of benchmark prices, guidance of production and sales of agriproducts, and stabilization measures. We also set targets for exporting, processing, and direct sales, and finalized eight concrete action plans, as follows:

1. Improving the production and sales information platform: The COA integrated searchable information systems and linked them with existing COA systems/APPs.
2. Adopting new policies and adjustment measures:

(a) The COA guided farmers producing agriproducts that are especially susceptible to production and sales imbalances to switch over to other crops (like broccoli), and coordinated this with direct payments on farmland.

(b) The COA adjusted the amounts for natural disaster cash relief, and linked cultivation registration with (i) cash relief and (ii) production and sales adjustment measures (like processing or clearance measures), so that cultivators registered with the government could get priority access to assistance.

(c) The COA also linked cultivation registration with food and agriculture policies or measures in order to change farmers’ behavior and increase their risk awareness.

3. Adjusting the tariff rate quota (TRQ) system: The COA adjusted TRQs for imports at certain periods of time, to avoid domestic production seasons, and divided them into TRQs for individual tariff numbered accounts, in order to uphold the rights and interests of domestic farmers.
4. Development and use of more diversified processing: The COA raised the percentage of agriproducts that get processed, and increased economies of scale at regional agriproduct processing centers.
5. Founding of flagship logistics centers and regional cold-chain systems: The COA established three flagship logistics centers and eight regional cold-chain facilities.
6. Use of non-governmental resources to establish a stabilization mechanism for production and sales of food and agricultural products.
7. Upgrading export competitiveness: This included market diversification, development of export sales channels, and reversing existing tariff inequality.
8. Adjustment of market structure and sales channels: The COA upheld fairness of market transactions, used policy tools to ensure that markets for specified agriproducts did not become monopolized by a few actors, and changed existing agriproduct transportation and marketing patterns by establishing cold-chain systems, e-commerce platforms, and industrial strategic alliances.

To stabilize agriproduct prices, the COA guided farmers’ groups to develop collective transportation and sales, direct sales, and online sales of their products. We also promoted the sale of 11,382 metric tons of domestic agriproducts such as cabbage, bananas, dragon fruit, guava, wendan pomelos, and tangerines (i) for military non-staple foods and prison catering, and (ii) through the Hope Plaza Farmers’ Market, electronic emporiums (with home delivery), the supermarkets of farmers’ associations, and hypermarkets. In addition, the COA also worked with municipal, city, and county governments to subsidize fees for things like product concentration, transportation, and postharvest handling (at the production end) as well as processing (at the processing end), to encourage processors to expand purchases, at reasonable prices, of fruits and vegetables that meet processing requirements. Processors responded by purchasing 7,818 metric tons, thereby stabilizing market prices.

(3) Halting of vaccinations for foot-and-mouth disease in Taiwan proper, the Penghu area, and the Matsu area as of July, 2018; confirmation that Kinmen was a zone that is “FMD-free where vaccination is practiced” by the OIE

In 1997 there was an epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Taiwan, and the government spent a huge amount of money on disease prevention, while industries related to animal husbandry suffered enormous losses. This was a blow to the nation’s economy, and it was for this reason that eradicating FMD became a common goal for both government and industry.

There is a staged process for eradicating FMD, which first requires certification by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) that a given zone is “FMD-free where vaccination is practiced.” Under OIE regulations, in order to apply to be declared a zone that is “FMD-free where vaccination is practiced,” there must be no cases of FMD for the previous two years and no evidence of the transmission of the FMD virus over the previous 12 months. Since the discovery of a single case of Type A FMD in Kinmen County in June of 2015, following the rapid implementation of disease-prevention measures, there were no additional cases for the following two-plus years. In order to accelerate the processing of Kinmen County’s application to be declared “FMD-free,” the COA’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) submitted the application before the annual deadline for submission of documents to the OIE, and responded several times to requests from the OIE for additional documents. BAPHIQ thereby successfully aided Kinmen County to follow in the footsteps of Taiwan proper, the Penghu area, and the Matsu area (which had received certifications that they were “FMD-free where vaccination is practiced” in 2017) and received formal recognition of its status as “FMD-free where vaccination is practiced” at the 86th General Session of the OIE in May of 2018.

In addition, in order to advance to the next goal, which is to have a zone declared as “FMD-free where vaccination is not practiced,” as of July 1, 2018 there was a complete halt of FMD vaccination of cloven-hoofed animals in Taiwan proper, the Penghu area, and the Matsu area. Before halting vaccinations, in order to ensure that there was no FMD virus activity in the environment, the COA undertook relevant risk-assessment testing (including monitoring of the environment at meat markets and slaughterhouses, testing of sentinel pigs, and experiments on sheep that tested positive for NSP antibodies living with sheep that tested negative for NSP antibodies), and found no traces of FMD virus activity. Since the halting of vaccinations, we have continued to implement the following supporting measures:

1. Continued monitoring to ensure there is no FMD virus activity.
2. Implementation of control measures like requiring applications to purchase vaccines, storage of vaccines, and buying back vaccines.
3. Strengthened checking and guidance work at livestock farms, meat markets, and slaughterhouses.
4. Invitation of experts to provide professional consultations, and organization of guidance teams to visit and assist livestock farms.
5. Strengthened education and training of disease-prevention personnel and of industrial groups.
6. Expanded information dissemination for travelers at our borders and assistance to investigation agencies to strengthen inspection and interdiction of smuggling.
7. Continued conducting of relevant disease-prevention exercises in order to upgrade disaster response capabilities.

If there are no cases of FMD within a year of halting vaccinations, it is expected that Taiwan can apply to the OIE in September of 2019 to be certified as a zone that is “FMD-free where vaccination is not practiced.” This certification can increase opportunities for the export of pork products and provide an additional bargaining chip in negotiations for imports of foreign meat products, while at the same time it can raise Taiwan’s international status in terms of effectiveness in the prevention of animal disease.

(4) Convening of the 6th National Agriculture Congress

Before 2018, the COA convened five previous National Agriculture Congresses in response to changing domestic and international economic and trading conditions: One in 1982 to deal with the global food crisis, one in 1988 in response to the “520 Farmers Movement,” one in 1994 in response to world conservationist trends, one in 1998 following the completion of agricultural consultations at the time of Taiwan’s entry into the World Trade Organization, and one in 2003 when Taiwan had just joined the new trend toward liberalization of agricultural markets through the WTO. After an interval of 15 years, by 2018 Taiwan’s agricultural sector was facing many issues that urgently needed to be dealt with, including climate change, trade liberalization, the rapid development of new technologies and techniques, the imminent establishment of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the aging and shortage of agricultural labor. Therefore, the COA organized the 6th National Agriculture Congress (NAC), centered on the theme of “Creating a New Agriculture for All.” The COA invited agricultural experts as well as the general public to participate in discussions and work together to lay out a blueprint for agricultural policies, so that these policies can meet the expectations of the public.

Unlike previous NACs, to put into effect the initiative of public involvement in government policy-making for this event, the COA launched a series of activities beginning in April of 2018, including accepting online proposals from the public; 18 local assembly conferences held around Taiwan; five focus discussion meetings on the agriculture, forestry, fisheries, livestock and poultry industries and rural communities; and 12 issue-integrating meetings and preparatory meetings to identify the key issues for discussion at the NAC. There was an enthusiastic public response, with more than 10,000 participants. We also set up an official website which offered all the information about the Congress and live video feeds; the website has been browsed more than 500,000 man-times. In sum, we broadly gathered opinions through various channels from all sectors of society to be the basis for discussions at the NAC.

The NAC itself was held on September 7 and 8 of 2018, with more than 300 representatives of industry, government, and academia in attendance. Through a process of sub-group meetings and general discussion, participants engaged in in-depth scrutiny of the challenges and development opportunities facing Taiwan’s agricultural sector at the present moment. There was brainstorming and consideration of four major topics: (i) “Sustainability—Preserving agricultural resources and the natural environment, and ensuring sustainable agricultural development,” (ii) “Safety—Enhancing the agriproduct safety system, and promoting production and consumption of premium agriproducts,” (iii) “Prospect—Employing smart technology to adjust the industrial structure, and comprehensively elevating the competitiveness of the agricultural sector,” and (iv) “Happiness—Completing economic protections for farmers, and creating new rural communities suitable for living and working.” Consensus was reached on numerous issues and the NAC produced 73 conclusions. In the future these conclusions will be transformed into concrete and feasible policies, to comprehensively accelerate the transformation and upgrading of “agriculture for all” that offers circular sustainability, safety and peace of mind, smart agriculture with potential for the future, and happiness for all.

(5) Promoting trial implementation of farmers’ occupational injury insurance

Amendments to the “Farmer Health Insurance Act” promulgated on June 13, 2018 not only replaced the Ministry of the Interior with the COA as the “central competent authority” for farmers’ health insurance, they also (based on the potential risk of occupational hazards to farmers working in the fields) added provisions for trial implementation of farmer’s occupational injury insurance (hereafter FOII). On October 9, 2018, the COA announced the “Regulations for Trial Operation of Farmers’ Occupational Injury Insurance” and launched trial implementation on November 1, 2018. These measures enable people who actually cultivate the land and who are insured under farmers’ health insurance to voluntarily apply to enroll in FOII. It is expected that the new rules will advance farmers’ occupational safety and economic compensation, and write a new chapter for labor safety insurance systems for farmers.

FOII offers four types of payments: (i) injury payments, (ii) subsidies for medical expenses, (iii) payments to the disabled, and (iv) funeral subsidies. This means that FOII adds two new additional types of payments compared to farmers’ health insurance—injury payments and subsidies for medical expenses—and moreover it increases payments for the disabled by 50% and funeral subsidies by 100%, offering greater safeguards for farmers who suffer occupational injury. In order to set norms for the scope of coverage offered by FOII, on October 17 of 2018 the COA finalized the “Examination Regulations for Farmer Insurance Insured Person’s Injury Due to Agricultural Executive Duties.” These Regulations set “engaged in agricultural work” and “at the site of in-the-fields tasks” as the basic principles for the scope of coverage of FOII. They also expanded “engaged in in-the-field tasks” to include essential and reasonable collateral behavior. In addition, they incorporated (i) “injuries caused by external forces while working in the fields” and (ii) health problems that are commonly seen among those doing agricultural work (including pesticide poisoning, heat stroke, febrile convulsions, and heat exhaustion), into the scope of coverage.

Moreover, on November 12 of 2018, the COA announced the “Regulations for Processing Disputes Concerning Farmers’ Health Insurance and Occupational Injury Insurance.” These guarantee the right to seek administrative relief for insured persons, beneficiaries, organizations that take out farmers’ health insurance and FOII, persons who pay funeral expenses, and interested parties when there are disputes over (i) insured items, (ii) premiums, (iii) insurance payments, (iv) occupational injuries, and (v) level of disability, as these are determined by the Bureau of Labor Insurance of the Ministry of Labor, or any other matters related to insurance rights and interests. In addition, on November 16 of 2018, the COA announced the “Organization Regulations of Farmers’ Health Insurance and Occupational Injury Insurance Supervisory Commission.” These Regulations clearly stipulate the duties of the Farmers’ Health Insurance and Occupational Injury Insurance Supervisory Commission, including inspection, reform, and other related tasks to improve farmers’ health insurance and FOII. As of the end of December of 2018, 90,628 farmers had taken out FOII. Municipalities, cities, and counties with more than 10,000 applicants included Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Tainan City, Pingtung County, and Changhua County.