International cooperation

In March of 2010, the Sixth Taiwan-Vietnam Working Group Meeting on Cooperation in Agriculture and Fisheries convened in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam agreed to improve its system of “country of origin” certification, to avoid having imports from Vietnam confused with products from mainland China. In April, the COA Minister accepted an invitation to visit the Netherlands to study their experience in sustainable management of agriculture, for reference in planning being done towards the same goal in Taiwan. In September, Australia agreed to relax quarantine and inspection criteria for imports of Phalaenopsis orchids with growing media from Taiwan.

The COA has worked to win the right for Taiwan to host international events held by such organizations as APEC, APO, AARDO, and APAARI. In 2010 we hosted eight such events. For example, a meeting of the APEC Food Security Forum gathered together over 100 representatives of government, business, and academia from 20 economic entities; it was one of the largest agriculture-related APEC events in recent years. The 2010 annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Seed Association (APSA) gathered together more than 1,000 persons, including high-level management and representatives of over 200 major seed and seedling firms, creating commercial opportunities worth over NT$1.5 billion for seed and seedling firms from Taiwan.

GLOBAL MARKETING STRATEGIES

International marketing of agroproducts

The COA has held a variety of international promotions and marketing activities. In 2010, exports of agroproducts were worth US$3.99 billion, an increase of 24.2% over 2009. The value of exports for the 33 key products with significant potential for the future was US$630 million, up 43.3% over 2009. The value of exports of 16 of the 33 increased by at least US$1 million, with the five showing the largest increases being eels, grouper, Phalaenopsis orchids, bass, and Oncidium orchids.

Strengthening the export supply chain

The COA aims to expand international market share for agricultural products. As part of this strategy, we: (a) designated orchards for bananas and 12 other fruits as export orchards, and 3,300 hectares of land as vegetable export zones; (b) promoted special zones for premium tea and guided registering of logos for geographical origin and traceability of tea products; (c) improved efficiency in the orchid industry by completing 22 locations for concentrating export shipments, as well as by improving methods for packaging, refrigeration, ordering, and shipment; (d) implemented facilities inspections and seedling inspections for Phalaenopsis orchids with growth media; (e) conducted quarantine treatments for fresh fruit before export; and (f) constructed a production-medication and production-management system for aquaculture.

International consultations

The COA participated in a large number of international consultative activities, including (a) negotiating conferences related to agriculture under the G-10, the RAMS group, and the Doha Round of the WTO (a total of 40 times); (b) the second ROC trade policy conference to discuss ways to come into full conformity with the WTO; (c) meetings of the ICCAT and other regional fishing organizations (55 occasions); (d) meetings of CITES and the CBD, to uphold our international fishing interests and protect biodiversity. Also, in August, we hosted in Taipei the 5th International Fishers Forum (a series of meetings under the auspices of the United States’ Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council). After the Forum, the Taipei Manifesto was issued and sent to the governments of Taiwan and the US and also to UNESCO and the five major regional fishing organizations.