Illegal factories on farmland: 20,000 new ones in 3 years! Government vowed immediate reporting and demolition, yet only 157 were investigated and handled; environmental groups harshly criticize the Ministry of Economic Affairs for laziness and

The problem of illegal factories on farmland in Taiwan is severe. The government claimed that factories built after May 20, 2016 would be demolished immediately upon reporting, and through amendments to the Factory Management and Guidance Act (referred to as the "Factory Guidance Act"), it granted the central government the authority to cut off water and power. However, the progress of investigating and handling illegal factories has almost stalled.

According to the Citizens of the Earth Foundation's comparison of manufacturing tax registration information, there were at least 20,406 newly added unregistered factories from May 20, 2016 to the end of 2019. According to data on the website of the Central Region Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, as of June 30 this year, only 157 illegal factories across Taiwan had actually been investigated and handled, among which 11 had their power supply stopped, 1 had both water and power supply stopped, and only 1 was demolished.

The Changhua Environmental Protection Union went further and visited factories that had been reported and punished by the Ministry of Economic Affairs with power supply cuts, yet still found the factories operating as usual. One of them, Lilong Plastics, even openly displayed its signboard and sold products online. The Citizens of the Earth Foundation, the Changhua Environmental Protection Union, the Wild at Heart Ecological Association, and cross-party legislators held a press conference today (the 8th) at the entrance of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, harshly criticizing the ministry for dereliction of duty and laziness, and calling on the Ministry of Economic Affairs to publicly disclose the list and number of unregistered factories in accordance with the law in the future, and to invite experts, scholars, and civil groups to participate in the factory management and guidance meetings.

At least 20,406 new illegal factories after May 2016; the Ministry of Economic Affairs has identified only 466

One year after the amendment of the Factory Guidance Act, and three months after it took effect on March 20 this year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs' enforcement progress has been slow, and it has failed to properly disclose information in accordance with the law.

Tsai Chia-sheng, a specialist in the Forests, Mountains and Land Group of the Citizens of the Earth Foundation, said that the Ministry of Economic Affairs had identified only 466 newly added illegal farmland factories. However, an actual comparison with the number of enterprises without factory registration in manufacturing tax records estimated that at least 20,406 were newly added after May 20, 2016. "For these more than 20,000 factories, the Ministry of Economic Affairs spent more than 70 million to investigate, yet only 466 were confirmed. What does that mean?"

"Slow enforcement progress aside, there is still no list or number of those that should be investigated." Tsai Chia-sheng said that on June 30, the Central Region Office posted the "Enforcement and Handling Status of Suspected Unregistered Factories in Each County and City" on its website. However, after actually clicking on it, the content only recorded the "number completed" for each county and city, without the "number that should be completed," and without any land parcel numbers or lists available for verification.

According to the enforcement progress published on June 30 on the website of the Central Region Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, a total of 157 were being handled, among which 43 violating factories were ordered to suspend operations, 7 had suspended operations, 11 had their power supply stopped, and only 1 each had water and power cuts and demolition.

Tsai Chia-sheng said that in the 109th year of the Republic of China, the Ministry of Economic Affairs had already sent letters to county and city governments to complete investigation reports, but this information is still not public. Partial figures disclosed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs can only be seen in the interpellation by Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih and some media articles. "The Ministry of Economic Affairs is willing to disclose to legislators, but not to the public. With this information, it is truly impossible to know how far the current progress has actually gone!"

Changhua Environmental Protection Union: The Ministry of Economic Affairs claimed that reported factories had all had water and power cut off, but field visits found they were still operating as usual

The county and city with the most illegal farmland factories is Changhua County. Wu Hui-chun, executive secretary of the Changhua Environmental Protection Union, said that since 2017, the union and related groups have jointly reported at least 68 illegal factories. "This does not even include cases reported to the government by the Citizens of the Earth Foundation or by the public on their own!" From the figures announced by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, only 53 were actually investigated and handled, among which 6 were violating factories, 11 had their power supply stopped, and 1 had ceased operations.

The Changhua Environmental Protection Union is quite doubtful about these figures. Wu Hui-chun said that in July 2019, the Ministry of Economic Affairs once explained on Facebook that "all 12 factories reported by environmental groups have had their water and power cut off and cannot produce or manufacture." But field visits found that the largest factory discovered so far, located in Lukang and covering 2,200 ping, was reported in January 2019, and as of 2020 trucks and personnel were still going in and out. "Does this count as the Ministry of Economic Affairs openly lying on Facebook?"