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.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we