2005-10-06 / Taiwan News, Contributing Writer / By Wu Qiuqiong

Minister Lee Ching-lung of the COA/Rick Yi, Taiwan News

During an interview with this publication, Minister Lee Ching-lung of COA said that in order to set the foundation for the "Healthy Taiwan" policy, the council declared the year 2005 as "Safe Agriculture Year" to promote agricultural production-marketing profiling, hoping to tighten controls on the farming environment, agricultural material safety and production management at the supply source and hygiene inspection of agricultural products at the downstream. Through the availability of production process data, agricultural products in Taiwan would be safer and better in quality. Taiwanese agriculture would then be able to establish trustworthy brands and a good image enabling the industry to develop food safety systems at par with those in developed countries.

Minister Lee stressed that besides the COA's endeavors at agricultural improvements and building the agricultural production-marketing profiling system, all agricultural research and extension stations also conducted various academic seminars to bring about greater communication and interaction between researchers, producers and marketers. The goal was to install straight-through safe production systems to help gear up Taiwanese agriculture for the international market. The council indicated that Taiwanese agriculture would have to meet best-fit consumption demands in the future by first providing "clear production-marketing information" and then upgrading toward the pioneering capacity with "labeled, regionalized, characteristic and stratified" products.

Safe agriculture as premise for development of fine agriculture

Agricultural production has always been profoundly affected by factors in the natural environment. Be it the soil condition, climate, storms, or pests, once a hazard occurs, the hard work of farmers may turn to nothing. Plus the impact brought about by globalization and trade liberalization from Taiwan's joining the WTO also has negative influence on the survival of domestic agricultural products in consumer markets. To counteract blows from these external constraints, Minister Lee has focused the policy on assisting local farmers to transform the labor-intensive traditional industry into a knowledge-based industry in hope of upgrading the competitiveness of Taiwanese agriculture. In spite of the higher production cost of Taiwanese agricultural businesses, their industrial characteristics and product quality are both competitive on the international market. Minister Lee is convinced that by achieving the production-marketing system of "safe agriculture", improving quality and establishing labels and classified packaging, Taiwanese agriculture still has a rather bright future.

Minister Lee analyzed further that along with the promulgation of the fine agriculture development plan, Taiwanese agriculture would move from pursuing quantity and quality in the past to presenting special local features and placing emphasis on marketing, packaging and brand names. Developing local characteristics in particular has been a key issue in agricultural policy. Take the "2005 National Quality Rice Competition" for example. The "Taiwan Rice No.2" grown by Lin Longxing of Chishang Township in Taidong County was sold for NT$11,000 per kilogram and won the title of "king of rice" at this second national contest. This not only shows that Taiwanese rice is highly regarded by rice businesses but has also set a proud record in fine agriculture development in Taiwan.

Minister Lee went into detail about local characteristics of agricultural products that are well known by people in Taiwan and have almost become purchase indicators for consumers. The pomelos from Madou are a must-have during Moon Festival. The black pearl wax apples from Linbian in Pingdong are famed in and outside Taiwan. Shanshui Rice by the Daan River in Miaoli is organically grown. The organic cherry tomatoes from Dahu are functional foods. In Taizhong County, both the brown swordbelt mushrooms from Shigang Township and the pear groves in Meizi Community have built crop production profiles, and the grapes from Shinshe Township have even passed the ISO certification. All these agricultural products come with a safety ID. Every one of them is like a child to its grower; its profile is a touching story to be savored by the consumer.

Introduction of Eurep GAP to be on track with the world

Starting in 2005, all retailing hypermarts in the EU are not allowed to import agricultural products without the GAP certification. Regarding this, Minister Lee particularly pointed out that it is mandatory for producers from every country in the world to acquire the Eurep GAP certification before exporting agricultural products to the EU.

Through the availability of production process data, agricultural products in Taiwan would be safer and better in quality./Central News Agency

After the second wave of mad cow disease in 1996, retail business groups in the EU, in order to assure the consumers freshness and safety of the fruit and vegetables they provided, first made the proposal in 1997 and then officially established the Eurep GAP in 2000. As a consequence, countries in the Americas, Oceania, Africa and Asia also began to introduce the Eurep Gap system. The Japanese government has made a plan to introduce its own GAP version in line with the implementation of agricultural production-marketing profile system between 2004 and 2008. In February 2005, a combination of individuals and groups devoted to promoting and developing agricultural products in congruity with consumer needs formed the GAI (Good Agricultural Initiative) Association aimed to establish a safe and sustainable agricultural system by working with the food production-marketing profile system and pushed for the Japanese version of GAP. This was also the first full-scale introduction of the Eurep GAP system outside Europe since the Codex Alimentarius Commission of the United Nations officially adopted the EU's Eurep Gap Standards for "hygienic practices for fresh fruit and vegetables" in July 2003.

Seeing this, Minister Lee emphasized, the COA also applied adaptable use of the ISO quality control and HACCP hygiene control systems and the spirit and methodology of the EU's GAP system in its promotion of production-marketing profiling demonstration programs. The council has made stipulation of standard practices both for the production and marketing of various agricultural products and for the hygiene control of animal husbandry as a key task in year 2005. Additionally, the council also hopes to gather the efforts of agricultural research and extension stations, related research institutes and scholars and experts in Taiwan through promulgation of the agricultural production-marketing profile system to establish the Taiwanese version of "Good Agricultural Practice" (GAP) and related measures as the standard basis for operations of producers and marketers. The concepts of HACCP for food hygiene and risk management have been adopted to secure safety and quality of agricultural food products and minimize environmental constraints to promote sustainability for Taiwanese agriculture.

After Taiwan joined the WTO, all standard practices for agricultural production and marketing operations should become compatible with the international ones in order to assure the competitiveness of Taiwanese agricultural products on the international market. Therefore, while promoting the demonstration programs, COA has also brought in the GAP methodologies and hygiene control practices for animal husbandry from the EU and Japan to promulgate the concepts of GAP, husbandry hygiene control and sustainable management to create relative measures in Taiwan. Farmers' adoption of the GAP and animal hygiene control practices will undoubtedly upgrade the safety and quality of Taiwanese agricultural products and help realize the goal of "safe agriculture." Under the global trade liberalization trend, safe agriculture will be an asset to help Taiwanese agriculture establish an advantageous position in international competition. Developing safe and high-grade agriculture is not just meant to safeguard the interests of consumers in Taiwan; it is also the passport for Taiwanese agriculture to enter the global market.