Page 102 - 2018 Annual Report Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan

Collective Singing The Harvest Song Unit 4: Marketing Agricultural Products and Communicating Rural Policies The “2018 Bilateral Meeting Between the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US and American Institute in Taiwan on Agricultural Sciences Cooperative Programs” was held in Washington, DC on April 19. (4) Promoting cross-strait agricultural interactions The COA reviewed applications from 771 groups (8,556 visits in total) of mainland Chinese citizens to visit Taiwan for professional agricultural exchanges. We also reviewed applications to visit Taiwan from 100 groups (260 visits in total) of mainland Chinese agribusiness people. The number of these groups and individuals visiting Taiwan from mainland China roughly doubled in 2018 compared to 2017. Also, in order to implement epidemic prevention work, the COA strengthened control over sites to be visited to avoid approaching locations where there was high risk of animal disease transmission. To avoid shocks from permitting the import of mainland Chinese agricultural products into Taiwan, the COA continued to restrict imports of some mainland Chinese agriproducts, and prevented sales back into Taiwan of agriproducts produced by operators who had gone from Taiwan to mainland China to invest. Moreover, we kept “agriproducts in which Taiwan has a technology- or technique-based competitive advantage” on the list of items that are banned for investment by Taiwan businesses in mainland China, in order to sustain the development of agricultural industries and protect technologies and techniques that provide a competitive advantage. As for practical matters of cross-strait relations such as (i) trade in agriproducts, (ii) disease prevention and inspection and quarantine, (iii) management of fishing boat workers, (iv) management of agricultural intellectual property rights, and (v) interactions between the two sides’ agricultural, forestry, fisheries, and animal husbandry industries, the COA scrupulously upheld the principles of equal dignity and mutual benefit, to increase mutual understanding and get all kinds of practical tasks done. (5) Promoting the Agricultural New Southbound Policy The main working areas and results of the Agricultural New Southbound Policy, whose main axis is the flagship project of “Regional Agricultural Development,” were as follows: A. Strengthening bilateral agricultural economic, trade, and investment relations: In 2018 the total value of trade in agriproducts between Taiwan and New Southbound Policy (NSP) partner 100