Small-scale agricultural processing plants may soon be managed under a dedicated law, as inter-ministerial preliminary conclusions are released
Agriculture in Taiwan, China is moving toward six-sector industrialization to add value to traditional farming, but in the secondary processing of agricultural products, many small farmers are constrained by current regulations, such as the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation and good hygiene practice standards, which are all designed for larger factories. To solve the problem of small agricultural product processing plants, the Council of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Executive Yuan's Office of Food Safety held a meeting today (the 9th) to discuss the issue. Hsu Fu, director of the Executive Yuan's Office of Food Safety, said that based on the meeting so far, the direction is toward enacting a dedicated law, but all details must still be discussed further.
Council of Agriculture moves toward a dedicated law to set standards for small agricultural product processing plants
The meeting was chaired by Executive Yuan Minister without Portfolio Chang Ching-sen. At present, the Council of Agriculture is leaning toward discussing a dedicated law, and in terms of management it would follow the Ministry of Health and Welfare's registration list for food businesses. In the future, agricultural product processors would also have to register on the list, so that both the Council of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health and Welfare can keep track of business operators' information.
As for the process of the dedicated law, it is expected that a working group will be set up, and once mature it will go through the Council of Agriculture's procedures before being sent to the Legislative Yuan for review. However, Hsu Fu pointed out that at the meeting some also proposed using the existing Agricultural Production and Certification Management Act to set standards for small agricultural product processing plants. Hsu said, "But I think this still requires amending the law; existing regulations cannot sufficiently authorize the drafting of the measures." Therefore, the meeting still discussed the direction of enacting a dedicated law.
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Ministry of Health and Welfare: We are optimistic, but products must comply with the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation
Hsu Fu said that today's meeting was mainly for each ministry to express its position. The Council of Agriculture pointed out that it is currently very difficult for farmers who want to do small-scale processing of agricultural products, because the current good hygiene practice standards under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation are all designed for relatively large factories, so it hopes to promote small agricultural product processing plants. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, meanwhile, raised the point that under current regulations food processing plants must be located on industrial land, and factories cannot be set up on agricultural land. If agricultural product processing plants are to be established, should they be handled as ancillary facilities on agricultural land? This part must all be included in the discussion.
Regardless of whether a dedicated law for small agricultural product processing plants is enacted, the Ministry of Health and Welfare is optimistic. Hsu Fu pointed out that the Ministry of Health and Welfare believes that if the dedicated law passes in the future, products from small agricultural product processing plants must still comply with the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation. The Ministry of Health and Welfare also suggested that it could work with existing special laws, such as the School Health Act. This year, in promoting school lunches, 3,000 public junior high and elementary schools were included in the food business registration management system. These schools are mainly managed by the Ministry of Education, with the Ministry of Health and Welfare playing a supporting role. In the future, small agricultural product processing plants could adopt a similar model, using a special law, with the Council of Agriculture managing these small agricultural product plants. However, the Ministry of Health and Welfare also emphasized that after several amendments to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, particular attention has been paid to tracking and tracing product sources and producers, and it hopes the dedicated law will still regulate the traceability of product sources.
Office of Food Safety: The scope of application of the dedicated law must be clearly defined, and both land use and safety conditions need to be clarified
The Office of Food Safety is also optimistic. Hsu Fu pointed out that in November 2016, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Council of Agriculture had preliminary consultations. At that time, the direction of discussion was still hoping that under the existing legal framework, the Council of Agriculture would define the suitable subjects and items for agricultural processing, set the standards, and place them under the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation for management, but the two sides did not discuss further.
Hsu Fu said that the scope of application and the fields involved under the dedicated law must be clearly defined, and the agricultural land for agricultural product processing plants must also be included in the discussion. The hygiene and safety facility conditions for small agricultural product processing plants under the dedicated law also need to be spelled out. The problems that extend from this, such as whether such a plant is a food processing plant or a small agricultural processing plant, for example tea processing, honey, pickled dried radish, and so on, are all gray areas. Going even further to restaurants in leisure orchards and hands-on DIY experiences, whether these are managed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare or the Council of Agriculture, all of this needs further discussion.