1. Amended measures were promulgated governing the sale and slaughtering of poultry. The new regulations clearly state that chicken, duck, or goose for human consumption shall invariably be slaughtered at slaughterhouses, with only three exceptions (a) where they are slaughtered within the home strictly for the use of family members or guests, (b) where they are slaughtered at retail markets or provisional concentrations of vendors, with approval and monitoring by the local government, or (c) where they are slaughtered on offshore islands as defined in the Offshore Islands Development Act, with approval and monitoring by the local government.

2. Amendments were announced to Articles 3 and 11 of the “Regulations of the Use of Feed Additives in Home-Made Fodder.” Amendments were also announced to some provisions of “Directions Governing Issuing an Organic Labeling Approval Document for Imported Animal Products and Animal Processed Products.”

3. Amendments were promulgated to Articles 19-2, 38-1, and 38-2 of the “Irrigation Association Organizations Act.”

4. Amendments were announced to Paragraph 10 of “Criteria for Staff and Standards for Allotment of Personnel Expenses for Taiwan Province Farmers Associations at All Levels.” The changes liberalized calculating methods for basic personnel costs at farmers associations for the 2010 fiscal year.

5. Amendments were promulgated to Articles 1 and 9 of the “Regulations for the Implementation of Monitoring Inspections of Imported Animals.” In addition, as a result of the outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Japan, the COA removed Japan from the list of disease-free areas.

6. The COA agreed, for parts of disaster reconstruction projects in redistricted agricultural land where the farmland has been washed away or buried, to increase subsidies to NT$52,000 per hectare. In addition, in cases where private land was washed away or buried as a result of Typhoon Morakot, during redistricting phases, there will be a subsidy of NT$34,000 for each phase.

7. COA Minister Chen Wu-hsiung was invited to visit the Netherlands. There he was briefed on that country’s agricultural development and its strategies for coping with climate change. Chen also participated in discussions with the Taiwan-Netherlands agricultural working group on protection of plant variety rights and other issues.

8. New guidelines for novel applications of registered agro-pesticides (also known as “label extensions”)—in this case 12 items applying to tea plants—were announced, bringing the total number of such guidelines completed so far to 427.

9. Fresh dragon fruits (Hylocereus undatus) were approved for export to Japan under the condition that they undergo heat treatment at 46.5℃ for 30 minutes, and are inspected and deemed to meet qualifications by inspectors from Japan and Taiwan.

10. Large-scale demonstration exercises for evacuation when there is risk of landslides were held in Chiayi, Taitung, and Nantou counties.

11. An exercise was held simulating an evacuation in the event of the formation and potential collapse of a barrier lake, increasing the ability of local residents to protect themselves and reduce the losses that would result from a barrier lake collapse.

12. A meeting was held to discuss and review the tracking model for goat diseases. In the case of pastures which suffered from outbreaks of goat pox, attendees reviewed the mechanisms for treatment, revitalization, and epidemiological investigation; it was anticipated that in future quarantine measures would proceed more smoothly.

13. A group of flower growers from Taiwan participated in the Floralies of Ghent (an international flower show) in Belgium. The Taiwan Pavilion won first prize for design among international participants, while the waxy spotted Phalaenopsis, developed in Taiwan, won 4th prize among flower varieties.

14. The COA organized four meetings to bring together academics and entrepreneurs in the field of agricultural technology to discuss future commercial opportunities; we counseled businesspeople on how to best invest in R&D, commercialize the results of scientific research, and upgrade the entire agro-technology industry.