Legislative: |
1.Promulgated by the Presidential Decree on May 30, 2018 The announcement was made on July 27, 2023 by the Executive Yuan Order tai-gui-zi No. 1125014346. The relevant matters set out in Article 2, Subparagraph 1, 4, 5, 8 of Article 3, Article 4, Paragraph 1, 3, 4 of Article 5, Paragraph 3 of Article 6, Paragraph 1, 4 of Article 7, Article 8, Article 9, Article 10, Paragraph 1, 2, Preface of Paragraph 4, Subparagraph 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of Paragraph 4, Paragraph 5 of Article 11, Subparagraph 4 of Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, 4 of Article 12, Paragraph 2, 3 of Article 13, Paragraph 1, 3 of Article 14, Paragraph 1 of Article 15, Subparagraph 2 of Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, 3 of Article 17, Subparagraph 7 of Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2 of Article 18, Paragraph 3 of Article 19, Paragraph 2 of Article 20, Article 21, Article 22, Article 23, Article 25, Article 26, Article 27, Subparagraph 1, 3 of Article 30, Article 33, Article 36, Article 37, Article 39, Article 41 pertaining to “ the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan” shall be handled by “Ministry of Agriculture” as governing body, effective August 1, 2023. |
Content: |
Chapter 1 General Principles
Article 1
The Act is established for maintaining water and soil
resources, ecological environment, biodiversity, animal
welfare and consumer interests, and promoting agricultural
operation that is eco-friendly and sustainable use of
resources.
Article 2
The term "competent authority" used in this Act is the Council
of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan at the central level; the
municipal/county/city governments at the local level.
Article 3
The terms used in this Act shall be defined as the following:
1.Agricultural product: Any product which is produced or
processed as food by utilizing natural resources,
agricultural materials and technology, including
cultivation, forestry, aquaculture, and animal husbandry or
any product promulgated by the Central Competent Authority.
2.Operator: Any individual or legal entity who engages in the
production, processing, packaging, importing, distribution
or sale of agricultural products.
3.Organic agriculture: Any farming practice including
cultivation, forestry, aquaculture, and animal husbandry
without using chemical fertilizer, chemical pesticide, and
genetically modified organism (GMO) and derived products,
based on the principle of ecological balance and nutrient
cycle.
4.Organic agricultural product: Any agricultural product that
is produced, processed, packaged and distributed in
accordance with the certification standard established by
the Central Competent Authority and certified under this
Act, or any imported agricultural product approved in
accordance with Article 17 paragraph 1 of this Act.
5.Organic in-conversion agricultural product: Any agricultural
product that is undergoing conversion to organic, during
which the product is required to be produced, processed,
packaged and distributed in accordance with the
certification standard established by the Central Competent
Authority and certified under this Act.
6.Organic mark: The mark used to indicate the agricultural
product to be organic.
7.Labeling: Words, graphics, symbols or additional instruction
affixed to agricultural products, the containers or
packaging of agricultural products when displayed or for
sale.
8.Accreditation body: An institution or legal entity who is
reviewed and permitted by the Central Competent Authority
and with the qualification to conduct accreditation
activities prescribed by this Act.
9.Accreditation: The process in which the accreditation body
evaluates whether an institution, school or legal entity is
qualified to provide certification services prescribed by
this Act under a contract.
10.Certification body: An institution, school or legal entity
who is accredited by the accreditation body to provide
certification services.
11.Certification: The process in which the certification body
verifies whether the production, processing, packaging or
distribution of a specific agricultural product is in
compliance with this Act under a contract with the
respective operator.
Chapter 2 Promotion of Organic Agriculture
Article 4
The competent authority shall promote the agricultural
production management system which adopts the approach of
agronomical, biological, and machinery operation and uses
natural resources, excluding synthetic chemicals and GMO and
derived products, in order to fulfill the eco-friendly
requirement of organic agriculture.
The above organic agriculture that competent authority shall
promote includes eco-friendly farming, despite it not
certified as mentioned in subparagraph 11 of Article 3.
The competent authority shall uphold the principle of
balancing supply and demand in promotion of organic
agriculture by proceeding with the development and
implementation of new technology prudently and reasonably,
improving production techniques of the operator and product
quality, making the organic agricultural products accessible
to consumers, enhancing the understanding, and gaining
consumer trusts. All these efforts are for the purpose of
making farmers willing to engage in organic agriculture.
Article 5
To promote the sustainable development of agriculture, the
Central Competent Authority shall set up the consultant board,
consult related authorities (institutions) and organizations
on its path toward a country with full organic adoption. The
Organic Agriculture Promotion Program shall be revised every
four years and implemented after approved by the Executive
Yuan.
Contents of the Organic Agriculture Promotion Program are as
follow:
1.The target organic agricultural production area, its
proportion of total arable land, and the annual budget
allocation.
2.Forward-looking development plan and current status survey
for organic agriculture.
3.Counseling for organic agricultural production, marketing,
and product certification.
4.Incentives and subsidies for conversion to organic
agriculture and environment preservation.
5.Improvement of agricultural practices, research and
development of agricultural technologies, and personnel
training for organic agriculture and organic agricultural
products.
6.Promotion of organic agricultural products and organic food
and agricultural education for authorities (institutions) at
all levels, schools, and consumers.
7.Counseling relevant civil groups for the promotion of
organic agriculture.
8.Other tasks that facilitate the development of organic
agriculture.
In promotion of organic agriculture, the competent authority
shall allocate ample budget, which will be raised every four
years on a rolling review of the rate of increase, for
conducting tasks mentioned in the previous paragraph, in
pursuance of full organic adoption.
The Central Competent Authority shall establish the standard
on the principle of proportionality for issuing incentives and
subsidies mentioned in subparagraph 4 of paragraph 2.
Article 6
The Local Competent Authorities shall review the districts of
their jurisdiction annually and locate suitable areas to
establish organic agricultural promotion zones while
encouraging civil production cooperatives or collaborative
marketing organizations to participate in the establishment.
Public land or lands of state-owned enterprises suitable for agricultural production shall be prioritized for the establishment of organic agricultural promotion zones.
The competent authority shall prioritize in providing
assistance or subsidies on public infrastructure and marketing
facilities (equipment) in organic agricultural promotion
zones.
The Local Competent Authorities may provide assistance to
farmers in organic agricultural promotion zones established
under paragraph 1 who have not yet adopted organic
agricultural production and require them to take necessary
measures to avoid the impediment of organic agricultural
production at neighboring lands.
Article 7
The competent authority may provide proper assistance to
operators on the certification fees, the technology upgrade,
marketing channel expansion, production-marketing facilities
(equipment), materials, fund loan and other organic
agriculture related matters in accordance with this Act as
well as incentives for seed reserving, breeding, and seedling
production of organic agriculture; the operators in organic
agricultural promotion zones of the previous paragraph may be
prioritized in receiving assistance and incentives.
The operator who rents public lands or lands of state-owned
enterprises for organic agricultural production shall be
provided with a rental discount.
For the operator who rents public lands or lands of state-
owned enterprises under the previous paragraph for organic
agricultural production and has been certified according to
subparagraph 11 of Article 3, the land lease shall be
guaranteed for a period from 10 years up to 20 years and free
from the restriction of the lease period stipulated in Article
43 of National Property Act.
The regulations governing the rental discount mentioned in
paragraph 2, guaranteed land lease period in the previous
paragraph, and matters concerning lease management shall be
established by the Central Competent Authority after it
consult with the management authority of public lands or
state-owned enterprises lands and relevant departments.
Article 8
The competent authority shall establish online platforms to
integrate certification data from certification bodies and
information about organic farming, marketing, materials
permitted for organic production, seedlings, qualified organic
imports, and other relevant information for public query.
Article 9
The competent authority shall encourage relevant authorities
(institutions), organizations or enterprises for preferential
use of local organic agricultural products.
The competent authority shall counsel authorities
(institutions), organizations or enterprises to establish
farmers' market to provide the channels for selling organic
agricultural products.
The competent authority may assist operators in establishing
online platforms to provide consumers with direct channels to
purchase from producers.
Article 10
The competent authority shall devote to organic agriculture
technology research and development, the provision of
information and personnel training.
The competent authority shall encourage its personnel to
participate in organic agriculture related training.
The Central Competent Authority shall participate in
international organizations and international cooperation
affairs to carry out the exchange of information, technology
and personnel related to organic agriculture.
Chapter 3 Management of Accreditation Body and Certification Body
Article 11
Any institution or legal entity shall not engage the following
accreditation activities until submitting the documents to
apply for and obtaining the permission from the Central
Competent Authority and any amendments thereto.
The validity of the certificate of the aforementioned
permission shall not exceed 5 years; the application for
accreditation renewal shall be submitted to the Central
Competent Authority one year prior to expiration. The validity
of renewed certificate shall not exceed 5 years.
The accreditation tasks conducted by accreditation bodies are
the following:
1.Accepting and reviewing accreditation applications.
2.Signing accreditation contracts with those who are
accredited.
3.Issuing accreditation certificates to the certification
bodies in the qualified scope.
4.Assessing the accredited certification bodies through
examining their certification activities.
5.Other tasks related to accreditation activities.
Accreditation bodies shall be subject to supervision by the
Central Competent Authority and shall not evade from, impede,
or refuse such supervision or provide false data. The
accreditation bodies shall comply with the following:
1.Accepting accreditation applications from the countries or
areas approved by the Central Competent Authority.
2.Establishing and submitting accreditation standards to the
Central Competent Authority for approval. The amendments or
abolishment of which are included.
3.Reviewing accreditation application and assessing the
certification bodies in accordance with accreditation
standards approved by the Central Competent Authority.
4.Retaining records related to accreditation tasks for at
least 5 years and notifying the Central Competent Authority
for the record.
5.Assisting and coordinating with the Central Competent
Authority on examining accredited certification bodies.
6.For certification bodies unable to provide certification
services, the accreditation bodies shall coordinate among
certification bodies for their certification business to be
taken over.
The Central Competent Authority shall establish regulations to
stipulate the eligibility, procedure, required documents, and
criteria for the application of permission and its amendment
specified in paragraph 1; required documents for renewal
application specified in paragraph 2; the items that shall be
described in the certificates specified in subparagraph 3 of
paragraph 3; the procedures and methods for supervising,
managing, examining the accreditation bodies, the required
coverage of accreditation standards, the required items
related to the accreditation tasks to be recorded, and the
notification documents specified in the above paragraph; and
other relevant requirements.
Article 12
Any institution, school, or legal entity shall not engage in
the certification activities until being accredited by an
accreditation body and receiving the accreditation certificate
in the qualified scope.
The certification activities of certification bodies are the
following:
1.Signing contracts with operators to certify their
agricultural products in accordance with the certification
standards.
2.Issuing certificates of organic agricultural products and
organic in-conversion agricultural products and controlling
the organic marks used by the certified operators.
3.Inspecting agricultural products according to the contracts.
4.Other certification related activities promulgated by the
Central Competent Authority.
The Central Competent Authority shall establish the
certification standards, categories, and items of agricultural
products mentioned in subparagraph 1 of the above paragraph.
The certification bodies engaging in the aforementioned
certification activities shall retain the data and records
according to the items, methods and periods promulgated by the
Central Competent Authority. The certification bodies shall
provide those data and records when requested by the Central
Competent Authority. The certification bodies shall not evade,
impede, or refuse the examination or provide false data or
records.
Article 13
The certification bodies may sign agreements with operators to
determine the scope of certification in production,
processing, packaging, or distribution of agricultural
products.
The Central Competent Authority may promulgate the upper limit
for certification service fee.
When a certification body is unable to provide certification
services due to revocation of accreditation, termination of
accreditation contract, dismissal, or any other causes, the
contracted operator shall sign a new contract with another
certification body within the period specified by the Central
Competent Authority. The status of organic agricultural
products or organic in-conversion agricultural products
remains certified during the above specified period.
Article 14
The Central Competent Authority may promulgate mandatory or
prohibitory items in the contracts between the accreditation
bodies and certification bodies as well as between the
certification bodies and operators.
Provisions of the contract that violate the above items are
null and void. Other parts of the contract that stand without
the above null and void parts may still be effective. But, if
the contract is unconscionable to one of the parties, then the
entire contract shall be rendered null and void.
Provisions promulgated by the Central Competent Authority but
not specified in contracts shall still constitute a part of
the contract.
Chapter 4 Management of Organic Agricultural Products
Article 15
The Central Competent Authority shall promulgate the
substances allowed to be used in production, processing,
packaging, distribution and sale of organic agricultural
products and organic in-conversion agricultural products.
Except for the aforementioned substances, operators shall not
use prohibited substances such as GMO and derived products,
chemical pesticides, chemical fertilizers, animal drugs, and
other synthetic chemical substances.
Operators shall ensure the organic agricultural products and
organic in-conversion agricultural products they produced,
processed, packaged, distributed, and sold contain no
prohibited substances as stated in the previous paragraph.
Article 16
Agricultural products shall be certified to be organic
throughout their production, processing, packaging, and
distribution before they can be sold, labelled, displayed or
advertised as organic.
Agricultural products shall be certified to be organic in
conversion throughout their production, processing, packaging,
and distribution before they can be sold, labelled, displayed
or advertised as organic in-conversion agricultural products.
The day after the anniversary date of the implementation of
this Act, any non-natural operator, such as a legal entity,
business, farm, unincorporated body, and ranch shall not use
the term "organic", as a whole or a part of its name, unless
all agricultural products sold are certified or reviewed
qualified according to subparagraph 2 of paragraph 1 of
Article 17.
Article 17
Imported agricultural products shall meet one of the following
conditions before they can be sold, labelled or advertised as
organic:
1.Certified by a domestic or foreign certification body
accredited by ROC, given that the certification activities
are performed within the territory prescribed on the
accreditation certificate.
2.Certified by a certification body accredited by a country or
member of World Trade Organization that is in organic
equivalence with ROC, given that the certification
activities are performed within the territory of the
accrediting country or WTO member, reviewed qualified by the
Central Competent Authority at the request of the importer,
and issued with an approval document.
Countries or members of WTO with organic equivalence defined
in subparagraph 2 of the previous paragraph shall sign the
mutual organic equivalence recognition treaty, agreement, or
other official documents with ROC. After signing, the
countries or members shall be promulgated by the Central
Competent Authority.
The Central Competent Authority shall establish the
regulations to stipulate the application requirement, the
review procedures, the data to retain, the labeling, the
management, and other relevant items, as described in
subparagraph 2 of paragraph 1.
Article 18
The container or packaging of organic agricultural products
and organic in-conversion agricultural products shall be
notably indicated in Chinese and common symbols with the
following items:
1.Product name. For organic agricultural products, the term
“organic” shall be indicated; for organic in-conversion
agricultural products, the term “organic in-conversion”
shall be indicated.
2.Ingredients. Those containing more than one ingredient shall
be accordingly indicated in a descending order of
proportion; in the case of a product containing single
ingredient represented by the product name, the product is
exempted from ingredient indication.
3.The name, address, and telephone number of the operator. In
the case of organic products being imported, the name,
address, and telephone number of the importer shall be
indicated instead.
4.Origin (country). However, those with the address of the
manufacturing plant or certification site that can represent
the origin indicated are exempted.
5.Name of the certification body.
6.Certificate number. Organic agricultural products imported
in accordance with subparagraph 2 of paragraph 1 of Article
17 shall be indicated with the number of approval document.
7.Other items required to be indicated promulgated by the
Central Competent Authority.
In case of difficulty to label the items mentioned in the
previous paragraph due to the limited package surface area,
material, or other conditions, the Central Competent Authority
may promulgate conditions for exemption or alternative
indication methods.
For any changes to the subject matter being indicated
according to the paragraph 1, the label shall be updated
within three months of the occurrence of the changes.
Article 19
Operators selling organic agricultural products and organic
in-conversion agricultural products in bulk package shall
display the name, the origin (country) of the products on site
with billboards, with a duplicate copy of the certificate of
organic certification or organic in-conversion certification
presented. Those selling organic agricultural products
imported under subparagraph 2 of paragraph 1 of Article 17
shall present a duplicate copy of the approval document.
The aforementioned disclosure of product name and origin
(country) is subject to provisions in subparagraph 1 and 4 of
paragraph 1 of the pervious article.
The Central Competent Authority shall establish the
regulations governing the items, methods, and other
requirements regarding indication and display specified in the
above 2 subparagraphs and the previous article.
Article 20
Only agricultural products certified as organic under this Act
are allowed to be labeled with organic mark.
The Central Competent Authority shall establish regulations to
stipulate the specification, design, use condition, and other
requirements regarding the above organic mark.
Article 21
Those entrusted to disseminate advertisement about organic
agricultural products or organic in-conversion agricultural
products shall retain the following records for 6 months from
the date of the first broadcast: the entruster’s name,
personal identification number or business registration
number, residence, the address of the residence or office, the
telephone number, and the content of dissemination. When
requested for provision by the competent authority, the
entrustee shall not evade, impede, refuse, or provide false
data.
Article 22
The competent authority may assign staff with proof of
identity to enter the premise concerning production,
processing, packaging, storing, selling, and other operations
as well as transporting vehicles related to organic
agricultural products or organic in-conversion agricultural
products to examine, sample for test, or acquire data or
records from operators. Any subject shall not evade, impede,
refuse, or provide false data or records.
Article 23
For testing of organic agricultural products and organic in-
conversion agricultural products, the Central Competent
Authority shall refer to the test methods established in Act
Governing Food Safety and Sanitation by the Central Competent
Authority of Health and Welfare. For the test methods not been
established by the Central Competent Authority of Health and
Welfare, other international recognized test methods can be
referred to.
The Central Competent Authority may appoint its affiliated
testing authorities (institutions) or entrust other
authorities (institutions), schools, or organizations for the
above testing.
Article 24
Dissident for the result of testing, the operator may apply
for a retest to the original sampling authority and pay the
retest fees within 15 days on receiving the notice, and is
limited to once.
Upon accepting the retest application, the sampling authority
shall notify the original testing body to conduct a retest of
the original specimen within 7 days. The authority may refuse
the retest application if the specimen has deteriorated or
could not be preserved properly.
Article 25
When the organic agricultural products and organic in-
conversion agricultural products tested contain the prohibited
substances specified in paragraph 2 of Article 15 or any other
matters violating the provision of this Act, the competent
authorities may prohibit the operator or owner from
transporting the agricultural products and order them to
withdraw or recall the product from the market, or take other
appropriate measures.
Article 26
The competent authority shall keep the identification of those
reporting a potential violation of this Act confidential, and
those enable the identification of such violation shall be
ewarded.
The Central Competent Authority shall establish regulations
governing the reporting, rewarding and other relevant matters
prescribed in the previous paragraph.
Chapter 5 Penalties
Article 27
Under any of the following circumstances, a subject is fined
from NTD600,000 up to NTD60,000,000:
1.Violation of paragraph 1 of Article 11, engaging in
accreditation activities without the permission of the
Central Competent Authority or engaging in accreditation
activities without the renewal permission of the Central
Competent Authority in accordance with paragraph 2 of
Article 11.
2.Violation of the suspension of accepting new accreditation
applications imposed on accreditation bodies by the Central
Competent Authority under paragraph 1 of Article 33.
Article 28
Violating paragraph 1 of Article 12 by engaging in
certification activities without accredited by an
accreditation body and obtaining a corresponding certificate
is fined from NTD300,000 up to NTD30,000,000.
Article 29
Under any of the following circumstances, a fine from
NTD200,000 up to NTD2,000,000 is applicable to each individual
violation:
1.Violation of paragraph 1 of Article 20, labeling organic
mark on uncertified products.
2.Violating the suspension of the usage of organic mark
imposed by the Central Competent Authority under paragraph 2
of Article 32.
Article 30
Under any of the following circumstance, a fined from
NTD100,000 up to NTD1,000,000 is applicable to each individual
violation:
1.Violation of paragraph 4 of Article 12, evading, impeding,
or refusing the examination by the competent authority, or
providing false data and records, or failing to retain
relevant data and records in accordance with the items,
methods, and time periods promulgated by the Central
Competent Authority.
2.Violation of Article 21, failing to retain data, evading,
impeding, or refusing to provide data or providing false
data.
3.Violation of Article 22, evading, impeding or refusing the
staffs of the competent authority entering the premise or
transporting vehicles for the purpose of conducting
examination, or sampling specimen for testing, or failing to
provide relevant data or records, or providing false data or
records.
4.Failing to comply with the proceedings by the Central
Competent Authority under Article 34.
Article 31
Under any one of the following circumstances, an operator is
subject to a fine from NTD60,000 up to NTD600,000 for each
individual violation:
1.Violation of paragraph 2 of Article 15, using the prohibited
substances.
2.Violation of paragraph 3 of Article 15, the organic
agricultural products and organic in-conversion agricultural
products containing the prohibited substances; however,
operators validating that they have taken necessary
prevention measures, and their fields are identified by the
competent authority to be contaminated by adjacent farms,
are exempted from penalties.
3.Violation of paragraph 1 and 2 of Article 16 or paragraph 1
of Article 17, agricultural products not certified or
imports not reviewed qualified being sold, labeled,
displayed, or advertised as organic or in a misleading way.
4.Violation of paragraph 3 of article 16, non-natural person
operator using the term “organic” as whole or a part of
its name without having all its product certified or
reviewed qualified under subparagraph 2 of paragraph 1 of
Article 17.
5.Violating the suspension of selling, labeling, displaying,
or advertising products as organic imposed by the Central
Competent Authority under paragraph 2 of Article 32.
Operators in the above situations in production, processing,
packaging, or distribution under the instruction of an
entruster or client shall inflict penalties on the entruster
or client instead.
Article 32
Under any of the following circumstances, operators shall be
order to correct within a specified period; a fine from
NTD30,000 up to NTD300,000 is applicable to those unable to
comply in time and to each individual violation.
1.Not labeling in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 18,
making false labeling, or not updating the label within 3
months of the date when a change to the subject matter
indicated occurs in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article
18.
2.Violation of paragraph 1 of Article 19, not displaying the
product name, origin, a duplicate copy of the certificate of
organic certification or organic in-conversion
certification, or a duplicate copy of the approval document;
violation of paragraph 2 of Article 19, which directly
refers to subparagraph 1 and 4 of paragraph 1 of Article 18,
not displaying the product name or origin (country).
3.Violation of paragraph 3 of Article 19 regarding the items
and methods of labeling and displaying.
4.Violation of paragraph 2 of Article 20 regarding the
specification, design, and usage of organic marks.
For any one of the above circumstances, the competent
authority shall suspend the operators’ usage of organic mark,
selling, labeling, displaying, and advertising products as
organic for a period from 3 months up to 1 year.
Article 33
Under any of the following circumstances, the Central
Competent Authority shall warn the accreditation bodies
according to the severity, or impose a penalty of suspending
the accreditation bodies to accept new accreditation
applications for a period from 2 months up to 2 years:
1.Violation of paragraph 4 of Article 11, accreditation bodies
evading, impeding, or refusing the supervision by the
Central Competent Authority, or providing false data.
2.Violation of subparagraph 1 of paragraph 4 of Article 11,
accreditation bodies accepting accreditation applications
from countries or areas not permitted by the Central
Competent Authority.
3.Violation of subparagraph 2 of paragraph 4 of Article 11,
accreditation bodies failing to report the formulation,
amendment or abolishment of accreditation standards to the
Central Competent Authority.
4.Violation of subparagraph 3 of paragraph 4 of Article 11,
accreditation bodies failing to review accreditation
applications or assess certification activities performed by
the certification body in accordance with standards approved
by the Central Competent Authority.
5.Violation of subparagraph 4 of paragraph 4 of Article 11,
failing to retain records related to accreditation task for
at least 5 years, keeping false records, or failing to
notify the Central Competent Authority for the record.
6.Violation of subparagraph 5 of paragraph 4 of Article 11,
accreditation bodies failing to comply with the Central
Competent Authority on examining the certification bodies
they accredited.
7.Violation of subparagraph 6 of paragraph 4 of Article 11,
accreditation bodies failing to coordinate with other
certification bodies to take over the certification tasks
when one certification body is unable to continue the
certification business.
8.Violation of paragraph 5 of Article 11, regarding the
supervision and management of accreditation bodies, the
required items related to the accreditation tasks to be
recorded, and the notification documents specified in the
above paragraph.
If an accreditation body has been suspended from accepting new
applications by the Central Competent Authority under the
above paragraph twice in the previous 3 years, another
violation specified in the previous paragraph shall result in
Central Competent Authority abolishing the permission and
prohibit accreditation body to apply for permission under
paragraph 1 of Article 11 for a period from 2 years up to 5
years.
For accreditation body revoked in accordance with the above
paragraph, the Central Competent Authority shall assume the
accreditation body’s contracts signed with the certification
bodies; those certification bodies shall enter into an
accreditation contract with other accreditation bodies within
the period designated by the Central Competent Authority, and
the accreditation contracts with the Central Competent
Authority will thereby be terminated at the same time.
Article 34
For agricultural products appearing in advertisements and
meeting circumstances specified in Article 31 or Article 32,
aside from penalties prescribed by this Act, the following
proceedings also apply:
1.Enforcing the advertiser to order the broadcast of
corrective advertising on the same page or timeslots of the
original broadcast that shall extend apology and corrective
message.
2.Enforcing the broadcaster to suspend the broadcast and
withdraw advertising materials.
Article 35
For situations specified between Article 29 and 32, aside from
imposing penalties under the relevant regulations, the
administrator may announce the details of violations, the
product name, the name and address of operators, the name of
its affiliated legal entities, organizations, firm offices, or
business premise, the name of its manager or representative,
and the site and date the agricultural product sampled.
Article 36
The penalties established by this Act, except those targeting
accreditation bodies and certification bodies, which are
imposed by the Central Competent Authority, are carried out by
the municipality or county (city) government.
Chapter 6 Supplementary Provisions
Article 37
For countries promulgated by the Central Competent Authority
as organic equivalent under paragraph 1 of Article 6 of
Agricultural Production and Certification Act prior to the
implementation of this Act, if they fail to reach mutual
organic equivalence with ROC by signing a bilateral treaty,
agreement, or official document within one year of the
implementation of this Act, the Central Competent Authority
shall abolish the equivalence recognition.
For certification bodies of a country with equivalence
recognition abolished under the previous paragraph,
agricultural products certified by them and reviewed qualified
by the Central Competent Authority prior to the abolishment
are allowed to be sold, labeled, displayed, or advertised as
organic, even after the abolishment enters into effect.
ticle 38
Prior to the implementation of this Act, the certification bodies that have been accredited to conduct certification activities under the Agricultural Production and Certification Act and other relevant regulations shall retain their accredited status for 18
months after the implementation of this Act. During which the certification bodies may conduct certification activities under Agricultural Production and Certification Act.
Prior to the implementation of this Act, the organic
agricultural products that have been certified under the
Agricultural Production and Certification Act shall be deemed
certified under this Act for up to 18 months after the
implementation of this Act, given that the certificate of
organic certification is within its valid period.
Article 39
In the absence of domestic institutions or legal entities
serving as accreditation bodies, the Central Competent
Authority may promulgate itself, other designated
institutions, or legal entities as the accreditation body for
a limited period.
In the absence of domestic institutions, schools or legal
entities serving as certification bodies, the Central
Competent Authority may promulgate institutions, schools, or
legal entities as the certification body for a limited period.
Article 40
Unless otherwise stipulated in this Act, the provisions of
Agricultural Production and Certification Act relating to
organic agricultural production no longer apply from the
implementation date of this Act.
Article 41
Enforcement rules for this Act shall be established by the
Central Competent Authority.
Article 42
This Act shall enter into force one year after the date of
promulgation. |