The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed the third reading of regulations governing the Food and Agriculture Administration under the Council of Agriculture (COA).
Council Chairman Lee Chin-lung (李金龍), explaining the reason for establishing the Food and Agriculture Administration, said that in view of the dramatic changes in the agriculture environment in Taiwan and overseas, the council would combine the existing Food and Agriculture Department and the Central Taiwan Office of the COA.
Lee claimed that since Taiwan joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in January 2002, becoming its 144th member, it had delivered on the promises it made when it was bidding for WTO membership but said that Taiwan's food and agriculture industry had suffered badly as a result.
"This will be a crucial time for Taiwan to upgrade and transform the agriculture industry," Lee said.
He said that the food and agriculture industry is the core industry in Taiwan's agricultural development, upon which 720,000 farming households and millions of people in related industries depend for their livelihoods.
He said that the new administration will be in charge of policy, regulations, mapping out plans, execution and monitoring, improvement in production techniques, regional experimental research, demonstrations and promotions of food and agriculture, analysis and predictions for the food and agriculture industry, natural disaster relief, transaction systems for food and agricultural produce and market management.
COA Vice Chairman Lee Jen-chyuan (李健全) also said that the government would assess the feasibility of setting up an education and training center for Chinese fishermen on Kinmen.
He made the remarks yesterday during a visit to the island.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Residents have called on the Taipei City Government to reconsider its plan to demolish a four-decades-old pedestrian overpass near Daan Forest Park. The 42-year-old concrete and steel structure that serves as an elevated walkway over the intersection of Heping and Xinsheng roads is to be closed on Tuesday in preparation for demolition slated for completion by the end of the month. However, in recent days some local residents have been protesting the planned destruction of the intersection overpass that is rendered more poetically as “sky bridge” in Chinese. “This bridge carries the community’s collective memory,” said a man surnamed Chuang
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm earlier today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, in this year's Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am, the CWA said. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) with a 100km radius, it said. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA meteorologist Huang En-hung (黃恩宏) said. However, a more accurate forecast would be made on Wednesday, when Yinxing is
NEW DESTINATIONS: Marketing campaigns to attract foreign travelers have to change from the usual promotions about Alishan and Taroko Gorge, the transport minister said The number of international tourists visiting Taiwan is estimated to top 8 million by the end of this year, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said yesterday, adding that the ministry has not changed its goal of attracting 10 million foreign travelers this year. Chen made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee to brief lawmakers about the ministry’s plan to boost foreign visitor arrivals. Last month, Chen told the committee that the nation might attract only 7.5 million tourists from overseas this year and that when the ministry sets next year’s goal, it would not include
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