The Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday said it would keep trying to convince the National Development Council (NDC) to continue subsidizing agriculture-related companies this year.
Executive Yuan officials, commenting on condition of anonymity, had previously stated the intent to remove such companies from a list of subsidized industries starting this year, and to only retain farmer associations.
If it does so, agriculture-related industries could lose up to NT$1 billion (US$30.4 million) in funding.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
Subsidizing such companies was not in line with increasing public welfare through public construction, the official said.
Agriculture-related companies are registered companies or businesses whose operations are related to the growth, production, storage, sales or processing of agriculture and foods.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration considers cold-chain technology an essential part of agricultural infrastructure and has offered NT$30 million in two-year subsidies to agriculture-related companies.
Presidential Office national policy advisor Chiu Chin-fu (邱進福) said that no longer subsidizing agriculture-related companies would directly hobble efforts to encourage a transition of the Taiwanese agricultural industry.
Han Kuan Agriculture Co founder Liao Ting-chuan (廖丁川) said that most agriculture produce ends up at hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores, all of which have high standards for freshness and drive up overhead.
Farmer associations are hard-pressed to produce the necessary capital to ensure such high standards and find it difficult to directly liaise with terminal markets, which was the catalyst for the creation of agriculture-related companies, Liao said.
“Our work benefits farmers in the same way as farmer associations,” Liao said.
Fresh produce on the export market has to deal with expiry dates, which pose significant stress for farmers when products are banned, an agriculture-related company founder said on condition of anonymity.
Fresh produce also faces the issues of quarantines and inspections, making it challenging to shift markets on a dime, the founder said.
The source also said that the Ministry of Agriculture’s attempts to boost the export of processed goods, by removing quarantines, extending expiry dates and reducing export taxes, are being impeded by the fact that such products still have to meet hazard analysis and critical control points, and ISO-20002 safety standards, which requires significant investment.
A representative from an aquatic products company cited how agriculture-related companies cooperated with government initiatives when China had unilaterally banned the import of Taiwanese grouper.
If the NDC insists on cutting the companies out of the loop, “frankly, we are not obligated to help” in the event of a similar incident, the representative said.
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