1. Amendments were promulgated to “Regulations for Approving Imports of Designated Plants or Plant Products.”

2. Amendments were announced to some articles of the “Regulations Governing Performance Evaluations of Farmers Associations.”

3. Amendments were announced to Paragraphs 5 and 6 of “Directions for Taiwan’s Tuna Longline Fishing Vessels Operating in the Atlantic Oceans in 2010.” The port of Tema, Ghana was added to the ports available for Taiwan’s Atlantic bigeye tuna fishing fleet for offloading fish and for transshipping frozen tuna products to Japan.

4. An amended version was announced of Paragraph 6 of “Directions for Preferential Loans Extended to Those Businesses Who Move into Agricultural Technology Parks,” making it possible for the credit departments of farmers and fishermen’s associations to arrange such loans, though stipulating that when they do so, they must use the syndicated-loan method in cooperation with the Agricultural Bank of Taiwan.

5. Amendments were announced to Article 3 and Supplements 1 to 15 of Article 4 of the “Regulations Governing the Certification of Premium Agricultural Produce.”

6. A program was launched under which the Fisheries Agency of the COA can provide subsidies to aquaculture operators to install solar-powered generating equipment, effective for a three-year period starting from 2010.

7. New guidelines for novel applications of registered agro-pesticides (“label extensions”)—in this case 66 items applying to melons—were announced, further promoting optimum use of agrochemicals by farmers.

8. A conference was held to discuss means of dealing with hoof-and-mouth disease in northeast Asian countries. It was agreed that more should be done to stop smuggling, to coordinate relevant disease prevention measures, and to guide Artiodactyla farms in implementing bio-security measures.

9. Direct elections were completed for the presidents and board members of Irrigation Associations throughout Taiwan Province. The elections produced a total of 15 presidents and 321 board members.

10. The COA attended INTERZOO 2010 in Nuremberg, Germany (a trade fair for the pet and pet-products industry), successfully working through the fair to create a higher profile for ornamental fish from Taiwan and develop the EU market for this product.

11. Activities were held to celebrate International Biodiversity Day (May 22).

12. Measures were taken to adjust the market for, and stabilize the price of, bananas.

13. The COA sponsored a Taiwan Recreational Agriculture Hall at the 2010 Taipei Tourism Exposition, aimed at promoting outdoor recreation and rural tourism in Taiwan.

14. The COA celebrated National Water Day 2010, holding a ceremony at which 292 persons were recognized for making outstanding contributions in this field.

15. Amendments were promulgated to some articles of the “Enforcement Rules of the Plant Protection and Quarantine Act.”