1.     Strengthening management of pesticides

　　In implementing the Agro-pesticides Management Act, through regular reports on production and sales of pesticides, the COA can clarify the flow of pesticides from their production by factories or their import by importing firms, which can help us to understand the habits of farmers in using pesticides, in order to combat illegal pesticides and to strengthen tools for guidance of farmers in using pesticides. As a result of a regulation announced on July 15, 2015, as of January 1, 2017, pesticide manufacturers and sellers must record pesticide import and sales data, and regularly report it to the competent authority. Moreover, each sales record must include information about the buyer, in order to allow follow up and checking. This allows citizens to be able to buy agriproducts and consume them with peace of mind. Statistics showed that in 2017, there were 1,413,262 pieces of data submitted to the pesticide business sales data circulation system that had been audited, and audits of pesticide flows were conducted 1,356 times.

　　To resolve the problem of lacking pesticides to prevent damage from diseases or insect pests, as of 2017, the COA had announced 7,528 extrapolated pesticide uses, and asked the Ministry of Health and Welfare to amend or set the maximum residual levels (MRLs) for 2,810 items, effectively assisting agricultural production while also looking after food safety and health for consumers. Also, in order to ensure the rights and interests of legal businesses and consumers, the COA has overseen and met with local governments to link up with judicial police and investigative units, along with the Ministry of Finance, the Coast Guard Administration, and the Ministry of the Interior, to strengthen interdiction of illegal pesticides. In 2017, there were 79 such cases caught, with more than 2.6 metric tons of illegal pesticides being confiscated.

　　To provide farmers with expert advice on plant protection and to assist businesses to smoothly export agriproducts around the world, the COA has researched and drafted a Plant Doctor Act, and has held public hearings and workshops to bring about a consensus. The draft is currently being reviewed by the Executive Yuan, and will serve as the legal basis for promoting a system of plant doctors. In addition, we coordinated with the incentives program for local governments to fully implement the second link of the “Five
Links of Food Safety,” reconstructing production management. Local governments hired 21 plant doctor interns and placed them in special agricultural production zones to provide farmers with timely and accurate disease or insect-pest diagnoses and precise customized suggestions for preventive measures.

　　In 2017, the various district agricultural research and extension stations as well as the Taiwan Banana Research Institute pro-actively linked up with the New Agriculture policy and promoted measures related to rational and moderate use of fertilizers. They held 281 events including guidance lectures and in-the-fields demonstrations, with 15,700 farmers participating. They also assisted farmers by (a) offering diagnoses (free of charge) for fertilizer needs for crops and (b) recommending accurate fertilizer amounts and methods of application, in 38,000 cases. In addition, technical guidance was upgraded by the publication of 61 stories in the media on demonstration results and publication of 65 articles related to rational and moderate use of fertilizer written by various experts.

2.    Mapping out the ten-year policy for cutting pesticide use in half

　　In order to achieve the goal of reducing the amount of chemical pesticides used, the COA has planned measures for: (a) strengthening research, development, and promotion of the use of comprehensive management technologies and techniques for crop diseases and insect pests; (b) developing biological prevention materials that can be used instead of chemical pesticides; (c) evaluating the phasing out of chemical pesticides that have high usage volume and are highly harmful; (d) raising the bar for market entry for generic pesticides; (e) establishing a management system with grading of pesticides depending on their safety; (f) planning a ban on use of herbicides on non-agricultural land; (g) passing legislation for the Plant Doctor Act; (h) raising the academic standards for sellers of pesticides and their management personnel; and (i) strengthening the system of professionals who are hired by farmers to spray their pesticides for them. We also discussed adjusting the pesticide management system, and we project that we can use effective chemical pesticides with low toxicity and non-pesticide prevention materials to replace high-risk pesticides.

　　In addition, the Agricultural and Food Agency of the COA also laid out plans to award subsidies to farmers who use biological materials, to reduce the amount of chemical pesticides and fertilizers used. Priority will be given
to subsidizing weed control equipment, to reduce the use of chemical herbicides. We also will adjust the crop rotation system alternating wet paddy rice with dry field crops, and promote measures such as eco-friendly farming, common prevention of disease and insect pests in production clusters, and halting use of defoliants for traceable (TAP) red beans (adzuki beans), gradually reaching our goal of cutting pesticide use in half.

3.    Strengthening management of veterinary drugs

　　The COA, acting on the basis of Article 5.2 of the Veterinary Drugs Control Act, finalized the List of Maximum Allowable Quantity of Veterinary Drugs that Can Be Brought into the Country by Inbound Passengers or Service Crew on Board of Transport for Use in Their Personal Pets, in order to strengthen management of people in those categories bringing veterinary drugs into the country. Also, to reduce the burden of reporting for manufacturers and importers of veterinary drugs, we have steadily promoted computerization of reporting under the requirement in Article 32-2.1 of the Veterinary Drugs Control Act, which specifies that “veterinary drug manufacturers and importers shall compile and submit data (drug type, quantity produced or imported, quantity sold, and customer names) to the municipal competent authority for the record.” The COA also amended Supplementary 2 of Article 9 of the Regulations for Registration of Veterinary Drugs, changing the restrictions on the amount of veterinary drugs for ornamental fish that can be packaged to conform with the international situation and market demand. Finally, we amended Supplementary 1 of Article 3 of the Veterinary Drugs Use Regulations setting norms for the use of veterinary drugs on aquatic life.

4.    Strengthening sample testing for pesticides in agriproducts

　　With respect to agriproducts that are high risk, have a high rate of violations, and get a great deal of attention, the COA has adjusted, on a rolling basis, the items for and frequency of inspections. In 2017 the COA conducted tests for pesticide residues at the production end for 20,301 items of agriproducts, with 96.6% being up to standards. Of these, we conducted sample tests on fruits, vegetables, and niche crops 13,781 times, with 96% being up to standards; on tea 2,510 times, with 97.6 % being up to standards; and on rice 4,010 times, with 98.1% being up to standards. In cases in which the tested products were not up to standards, farmers were forbidden from selling their crops, while the relevant local government did guidance in safe use of pesticides and investigation and handling under law. To upgrade safety risk management for seafood products, we expanded monitoring of the use of agrichemicals in aquaculture. In 2017 the COA conducted sample tests
on seafood products that were not yet on the market 1,851 times, with 98.8% being up to standards; and on seafood in wholesale fish markets 23,146 times, with 99.9% being up to standards. For products that were not up to standards, the local government was instructed to impose sanctions and regulatory listing and strengthen guidance and improvement in accordance with relevant regulations.

　　With regard to livestock and poultry products with a high risk of veterinary drug residues, the COA continued to conduct routine monitoring and sample testing. In 2017 we sample tested livestock and poultry products on the market 3,057 times, with 99.8% being up to standards for testing for veterinary drug residues.

　　The COA’s Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute has been continuing to develop testing technologies that operators can use on their own at the source. They have combined the already developed Fast Pesticide Extraction (FaPEx) kit with things like relatively low-cost modified chromatography mass spectrometry and raman spectrometry, to research and develop instant monitoring technology for pesticide residues in agriproducts, which can be customized to meet the demands of different operators. In this way, we are building a testing method that is both low cost and quick, and that can test for many types of pesticides with restrictions. In the future, this can be provided to agriproduct suppliers, to serve as an instant onsite method to analyze whether their products exceed the maximum residue levels.

5.     Building a certification system consumers can trust

　　The COA promotes four agriproduct certifications, including those for organic agriproducts, CAS Taiwan premium agriproducts, Traceable Agricultural Products (TAP), and Gi-Am-Pu safe fruits and vegetables. However, the legal basis, graphics, system content, and certification mechanisms are all different, making it difficult for consumers to understand the connotations of each certification and the products’ value, which makes it difficult for operators to choose which system(s) to participate in. In order to get the maximum effect out of agriproduct certifications, the COA has launched a plan to integrate these certifications. Besides researching and discussing amendments to the Agricultural Production and Certification Act, we will also integrate the contents of the various systems, the certification standards, and the items for certification.

　　Agriproduct certifications to be promoted in the future will take the four above-mentioned systems and, with safety as the main axis, integrate them into two certifications: “organic agriproducts” and “TGAP,” to facilitate understanding, recognition, and trust in the consumer market. As for organic agriproduct certification, because of the uniqueness of the organic production process, this will conform to the continued promotion of the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act. However, because the graphics of the current certification mark are similar to that for CAS, through a new design of the graphics we will resolve the problem of making differentiation easier.

　　In terms of the TGAP certification, this system will integrate the best elements of the CAS, TAP, and Gi-Am-Pu certifications. The scope of certification will mainly cover primary agriproducts and agriproducts that have undergone simple processing. The safety standards for agriproducts will definitely not be lowered as a result of integration. If in the future businesses making processed agriproducts opt for certification of their complete process, regulations specify that the business must use certified raw materials as their main raw materials and that the processing process must be certified as well. The COA will continue to guide existing operators to participate in the new system, such as through conversion from Gi-Am-Pu to the “traceability preparatory period” during which we guide Gi-Am-Pu groups to gradually conform to the existing TAP norms, in order to facilitate continuity following integration.

　　In addition, in response to international trends with regard to the legal trade in lumber, the COA’s Forestry Bureau is pro-actively promoting a TAP system for domestically produced wood and bamboo. Moreover, they will add a category for wood manufactured goods to CAS certification standards, to construct a system to ensure (i) the legality of the source of domestic wood and bamboo raw materials and (ii) quality control over processed products. These measures will protect the rights and interests of consumers and upgrade the sustainability and competitiveness of the domestic wood industry.

6.    Promoting traceability systems for various agriproducts

　　As of the end of 2017, the coverage rate for the traceability label for fresh domestically produced pork reached 51.4%. Consumers can use the eight-digit traceability code on the label to search for the date on which the hog was sold wholesale, the market where it was sold wholesale, and the farm of origin. We also continued to promote the traceability system for domestically produced beef, providing consumers with the ability to search for information about the farm where the animal was raised, the slaughterhouse, and the butchering factory.

　　On August 1, 2017, the COA comprehensively launched the traceability system for domestically produced fresh poultry. Consumers can use the QR Code, or go to the “Domestic Fresh Poultry Meat Tracing Platform,” to search for information about the poultry slaughterhouse and livestock farm. Also, as of September 1, 2017, there must be an egg traceability label attached to the outside of the containers used for non-packed eggs. Finally, on August 30, 2017, the COA launched the “Domestic Washed-and-Graded Egg Tracing System”; it operates in a similar manner to the traceability system for non-packed eggs.

　　In order to expand the traceability of seafood, in 2016 the COA finalized the Operation Directions for Taiwan Aquatic Product on Traceability, and combined this with information systems, so that consumers can scan the product QR Code right where the product is sold to immediately get information about the product and the producer. Through 2017 we guided 521 producers to get QR Codes, covering 44 different products, with production volume of about 14,067 metric tons.

　　The COA has also pro-actively guided producers to participate in the Taiwan Agricultural Products Production Traceability System (TAPPTS). As of December 31, 2017, we had distributed 30,008 QR Codes for the TAPPTS (an increase of 13,658 over the course of the year). Records are kept on 503 domestically produced fresh agriproducts and processed agriproducts, including vegetables, fruit, mushrooms, honey, rice, and manufactured tea products.