Page 100 - 2019 Annual Report Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan

Learning from Nature: Harmony and well-being Unit 5: Major Events in 2019
A press conference on halting vaccinations for foot and mouth disease.
zone became eligible in 2019 to apply to the OIE for recognition as a zone that is "FMD-free where vaccination is not practiced." Therefore the COA’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine convened a meeting with relevant agencies to provide required dossiers to fill out the OIE’s questionnaire about Taiwan’s prevention, inspection, and quarantine practices. The application to be recognized as a zone that is "FMD-free where vaccination is not practiced" was submitted to the OIE on September 5, 2019, and it was hoped that Taiwan proper, Penghu County, and the Matsu area would be so recognized by the OIE in May of 2020. This recognition 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) The lifting of the European Union’s "Yellow Card" warning for Taiwan’s fisheries industry
After more than three years of consultations between Taiwan and the European Union (EU) on "legal framework," "monitoring, control, and surveillance" (MCS), "traceability," and "international cooperation," on June 27, 2019 Taiwan was finally removed from the EU’s "Yellow Card" list for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing upon the European Commission’s decision. This suggests that Taiwan’s fishing industry and related industries, which create NT$40 billion and over NT$100 billion in production value respectively, will
maintain their competitive advantage. The "Taiwan-EU Working Group on Combating IUU Fishing" was also established to deepen cooperation against IUU fishing and ensure that catches are legally caught and are traceable.
To comprehensively strengthen Taiwan’s fisheries management system, with respect to the four areas of concern to the EU, the COA engaged in consultations with relevant authorities and fishing industry associations for more than three years, and the key improvements are as follows:
A. With respect to "legal framework": The COA formulated the "Act for Distant Water Fisheries" and amended the "Act to Govern Investment in the Operation of Foreign Flag Fishing Vessels" and the "Fisheries Act" to improve Taiwan’s legal framework.
B. With respect to "monitoring, control, and surveillance" (MCS): The COA adopted a number of measures to strengthen fisheries management, including assisting in the installation of E-logbooks on all distant water fishing vessels, establishing a 24- hour Fisheries Monitoring Center to ensure comprehensive monitoring of Taiwan’s distant water fishing fleet, ensuring full implementation of the "Landing Declaration" mechanism, designating 32 foreign ports, hiring more fisheries inspectors to conduct inspections at domestic ports and abroad, implementing "Port State Measures," and recruiting more at-sea observers to increase the observer coverage rate.
C. With respect to "traceability": The COA stipulated the "Strategic Plan for Auditing Industry Related to Distant Water Fisheries," guiding and auditing exporters to ensure that the fisheries products they purchased were not IUU-related.
D. With respect to "international cooperation": The COA updated cooperation arrangements with 22 countries with relatively close links to Taiwan’s fisheries industry, and strengthened efforts to ensure that Taiwan fishing vessels comply with the requirements of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), which
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