Page 99 - 2019 Annual Report Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan

Framework for integrated operations of export platforms for Taiwan agriproducts.
Press conference for the cultivation registration system for cabbage.
C. Building a cold-chain logistics system
The COA guided 106 organizations including the Hengchun Township Farmers’ Association and the Checheng and Fangliao District Farmers’ Associations to acquire cold-chain equipment (facilities) including: building 7088 square meters of cold storage warehouses (freezers), installing 34 refrigerator compressors and four sets of vacuum cooling equipment, and acquiring 40 refrigeration (freezer) vehicles, two refrigerated shipping containers, 24 transport vehicles, and 23 forklifts. These will accelerate the development of the cold-chain logistics industry, using low temperatures to preserve the freshness and quality of agriproducts and reduce losses, thereby increasing farmers’ incomes.
D. Primary processing
In order to build a unified management system for agriproducts from production through primary processing, the COA adopted regulations governing the management of "Primary Agricultural Product Processing Yards." Achievements in this area in 2019 included:
Annual Report 2019 Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan
◆ Amending of Article 18 of the "Agricultural Production and Certification Act" to provide the legal basis for issuing the "Regulations Governing Primary Agricultural Product Processing Yards."
◆ Researching and drafting the "Regulations Governing Primary Agricultural Product Processing Yards," for which the COA held nine seminars for farmers and five citizens’ review meetings, with 943 participants including farmers and representatives of sales channels and environmental groups. The COA also organized education and training in processing technology and food safety and hygiene, offering a total of ten courses lasting 40 hours each; a total of 683 farmers signed up, and 563 have received certificates for passing the training.
◆ Guiding of processing venues to conform to hygiene and safety regulations. An expert guidance team improved the flow, production process, and staff hygiene management at 16 processing venues, to bring them in line with the "Regulations on Good Hygiene Practice for Food."
(3) The cessation of vaccinations for foot and mouth disease in Taiwan and application to the OIE for recognition as a zone "free of foot and mouth disease"
Taiwan has had success with prevention of foot and mouth disease (FMD), and in May of 2017 Taiwan proper, Penghu County, and Lienchiang County (the Matsu area) were recognized by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) as a zone that is "FMD- free where vaccination is practiced." Under OIE code, if there is a cessation of vaccinations in a given zone, and there are no new cases of FMD after a year of continuous monitoring, an application can be made for recognizing the zone as "FMD-free where vaccination is not practiced." With rigorous monitoring, the COA confirmed that there was no FMD virus in the production environment in Taiwan proper, Penghu County, and the Matsu area, after which FMD vaccinations ceased from July 1, 2018 in these areas. Since no new cases arose after more than a year of continuous monitoring, this
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