萬國法律事務所

With the objective of more effective management of organic agricultural products, the new Agricultural Production and Certification Act has now been implemented since January 31st, 2009. Under this new law, domestic and imported agricultural products alike, including processed agricultural products, must possess an organic certification or undergo organic certification to be labeled and sold as such.

The Agriculture and Food Agency, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan (AFA) indicated that the Act was promulgated on January 31st, 2007 with a grace period for the industry expiring January 31, 2009 To be labeled as organic, agricultural products or processed agricultural products produced after January 31, 2009 must have an organic certification or be certified as such. Any agricultural product operators labeling its products as certified or other misleading expressions without proper certification may be subject to fines as high as NT$300,000. Any agricultural product operators using the organic agricultural product mark without proper certification may be subject to fines as high as NT$1,000,000. Any agricultural products or processed agricultural products produced or imported prior to January 31, 2009 still benefit from a six-month grace period, but will still be subject to investigation upon any use of prohibited chemicals or of the organic agricultural product mark without authorization.

The AFA revealed that the accreditation of domestic organic agricultural products is currently commissioned to the Taiwan Accreditation Foundation. Six organizations are qualified for certification: MOA International, Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation, Chinese Organic Agribusiness Association, Taiwan Organic Production Association, Taiwan Formosa Organic Association and Food Safety Institute International. With respect to animal products, the National Animal Industry Foundation is qualified for certification.

Imported organic products with foreign certification may be labeled and sold as organic in Taiwan, but must be from certification organizations of a country recognized by the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan (COA), as “Countries with Equivalent Management of Organic Agricultural Products” or be certified by certification organizations accredited by international organic accreditation agencies. Presently the countries recognized by the COA include: Sweden, Luxemburg, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Holland, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Australia. The government is also engaged in negotiations with the United States and Japan and is close to reaching an understanding with the United States, which is expected to be recognized in the near future. Prior to entering the market, certified organic products must apply for the permission of the COA to label the products as “organic”. Operators in imported agricultural products and processed products shall apply to the AFA regional office where the registered office is located and operators in imported animal products should apply to the Animal Industry Division of COA before the products can be sold in Taiwan.

The AFA emphasized that if the imported agricultural products are to be processed or repackaged in Taiwan, the process or repackaging must also be certified by domestic certification organizations in order for the products to be labeled and sold as organic in Taiwan. Currently there are four domestic organizations qualified for such certification: Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation, MOA International, Chinese Organic Agribusiness Association and Food Safety Institute International.