MONISTRY OF AGRICULTURE
Laws and Regulations Retrieving System

Chapter 1 General Principles
Article 1
This Act has been enacted to establish and maintain order in the marketing of agricultural products, to regulate demand and 
supply, and to promote transactional justice. Any matters not 
covered by this Act shall be governed by other applicable 
legislation.


Article 2
Competent authorities as defined by this Act: at the central 
government level: the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, 
hereinafter referred to as the Central Competent Authority; at 
the special municipality level, the respective special 
municipal governments; at the county or city level, the 
respective county or city governments.


Article 3
The following definitions apply in this Act:
1.Agricultural product: any vegetable, fruit, livestock, or 
  fishery product, or any other product from agriculture, 
  forestry, fishery, or animal husbandry, as well as its 
  processed product as designated by the Central Competent 
  Authority;
2.Agricultural wholesale market: an organization that 
  assembles and performs daily or periodic transactions of 
  agricultural products;
3.Farmer: A natural person directly engaged in the production 
  of agricultural products as defined by this Act;
4.Farmers’ organization: any legally organized farmers’ 
  association, fishermen’s association, cooperative for 
  agricultural production and marketing, or cooperative farm;
5.Supplier: anyone who provides agricultural products to 
  agricultural wholesale markets;
6.Purchaser: anyone who purchases agricultural products from 
  agricultural wholesale markets;
7.Distributor: anyone who purchases agricultural products from 
  agricultural producers or agricultural wholesale markets and 
  ships and trades them in other markets;
8.Wholesaler: anyone who purchases agricultural products from 
  an agricultural wholesale market and sells them to retailers 
  or institutional consumers in the same market;
9.Retailer: a businessperson or entity that sells agricultural 
  products to consumers;
10.Agricultural corporation: a company engaged in agricultural 
   production as defined by this Act.


Article 4
The Central Competent Authority shall, in accordance with 
national guidelines for agriculture production and marketing, 
formulate national plans for the production, marketing, and 
international trade of agricultural products. Local competent 
authorities shall devise annual programs for implementing the 
production and marketing plans.


Article 5
The Central Competent Authority shall monitor and report on 
international circumstances in agriculture production and 
marketing, as well as international market prices of 
agricultural products. Special municipal, county, or city 
governments shall monitor and report on domestic circumstances 
of agriculture production and marketing, along with domestic 
market prices of agricultural products.


Article 6
No one shall engage in the monopolization of the trade in 
agricultural products, price manipulation, or intentional 
deception regarding the quality or quantity of products to 
gain an unfair advantage. 
Additionally, no one shall deliberately disseminate rumors or 
false information that could impact the prices of traded 
agricultural products.


Chapter 2 Joint Marketing
Article 7
Joint marketing of agricultural products may be performed by a 
farmers’ organization, taking two forms as following:
1.Wholesaling, which involves supplying for the purpose of 
  reselling or processing;
2.Retailing, which involves supplying directly to consumers.
In cases where farmers' organizations lack joint marketing
arrangements for certain agricultural products or 
administrative divisions, farmers or agricultural production 
and marketing groups may independently undertake such efforts, 
with the government providing active assistance and guidance.


Article 8
Farmers’ organizations engaged in joint marketing and 
distribution adjustments must receive assistance and guidance 
from respective central and local competent authorities. The 
regulations governing these organizations’ assistance and 
guidance, incentives, joint marketing organization, training, 
distribution adjustments, production and marketing forms, 
cessation of operations, and monitoring shall be formulated by 
the Central Competent Authority.
Agricultural products undergoing joint marketing by farmers’ 
organizations should be given priority at agricultural 
wholesale markets.
The aforementioned joint marketing may be executed through 
contracted production or supply between a farmers’ 
organization, its members, and agricultural wholesale markets.
Respective competent authorities shall award farmers’ 
organizations that exhibit outstanding performance in joint 
marketing.


Article 9
Farmers' organizations may impose necessary expenses for joint 
marketing on participating agricultural producers; the fee-
charging standards shall be reported to special municipal, 
county, or city competent authorities for approval. 
To apportion accidental losses incurred during joint marketing 
of agricultural products, farmers' organizations may devise a 
method to collect mutual aid funds from the proceeds payable 
to the agricultural producers; this method is subject to the 
submission to and approval by special municipal, county, or 
city competent authorities.


Article 10
The land required for packing houses used by farmers' 
organizations for joint marketing is regarded as agricultural 
land and is entitled to the provisions under Article 15; 
additionally, the packing houses are eligible for the 
deduction of house tax under Article 17.


Article 11
Farmers or farmers’ organizations engaged in joint marketing 
are exempted from stamp duties and business taxes when selling 
their agricultural products.


Chapter 3　Wholesaling
Article 12
Agricultural wholesale markets are deemed public utilities, 
and their establishment, as well as the scope of their 
business operations, shall be planned by respective competent 
authorities and may be funded through government budgets.
The plans proposed by local competent authorities are subject 
to submission to and approval by the Central Competent 
Authority.


Article 13
Entities eligible to operate agricultural wholesale markets 
are limited to the categories outlined in the following 
subparagraphs:
1.Farmers’ organizations.
2.Legal persons jointly funded by farmers’ organizations.
3.Legal persons jointly funded by farmers’ organizations and 
  government agencies/institutions or township/city offices.
4.Legal persons jointly funded by farmers and distributors of
  agricultural products.
5.Legal persons funded by government agencies/institutions or 
  township/city offices.
6.Legal persons funded jointly by government 
  agencies/institutions or township/city offices, farmers’ 
  organizations or farmers, and distributors of agricultural 
  products.
Entities operating agricultural wholesale markets shall not be 
for profit; their organization, except for the category in 
Subparagraph 1 in the previous paragraph, is subject to the 
provisions of a Company Limited by Shares under the Company 
Act, mutatis mutandis. However, legal persons under the 
categories in Subparagraphs 2, 3, 5, and 6 are exempted from 
the requirements for the number and qualifications of founders 
specified in Article 128 of the Company Act.
Agricultural wholesale markets operated by entities under 
Subparagraphs 1 and 2 in Paragraph 1 shall be given priority. 
Those operated by entities under Subparagraph 4 in Paragraph 1 
are not eligible for benefits specified in Articles 12, 15, 
and 17, including funds, land access, and tax reduction.


Article 14
The establishment of an agricultural wholesale market requires 
the submission of a proposal to the special municipal, county, 
or city competent authority for approval before commencement. 
After establishment, the operating entity may initiate 
operations only after registering with and obtaining permits 
from the local competent authority. Operations shall not be 
halted or canceled without prior approval of the local 
competent authority, except in cases of force majeure.
The local competent authority may revoke approval for 
establishing an agricultural wholesale market if the entity 
deviates from the approved proposal, except when such 
deviation is approved based on valid reasons. Regulations 
governing personnel, financial, and business management, as 
well as utilization and management of market cash balance, 
purchaser transaction suspension durations, cancellation of 
purchaser’s permits, and other relevant matters are 
stipulated by the Central Competent Authority.


Article 15
Agricultural wholesale markets have priority in leasing public
lands or purchasing them from the government at promulgated 
prices. For private lands, the competent authority shall 
facilitate purchase or initiate legal procedures for land 
expropriation. Additionally, markets may utilize agricultural 
lands as specified by law. 
Any changes to the utilization of the lands referred to in the 
preceding paragraph require prior approval from the competent 
authority.


Article 16
In cases where the lands, buildings, and/or facilities 
utilized by an agricultural wholesale market are provided by 
the government or a farmers’ organization, the usage fee 
shall be determined by the special municipal, county, or city 
competent authority within the cap set by the Central 
Competent Authority.


Article 17
Agricultural wholesale markets receive a 50% deduction on 
house tax, land value tax, or farmland tax for lands and 
buildings.


Article 18
Anyone falling within any of the following subparagraphs is 
eligible to register as a supplier to agricultural wholesale 
markets:
1.Farmers.
2.Farmers’ organizations.
3.Agricultural corporations.
4.Agricultural producers approved by the special municipal, 
  county, or city competent authority.
5.Distributors.
6.Importers of agricultural products.
Suppliers falling under Subparagraphs 2 to 6 in the preceding
paragraph are required to maintain transaction records. When 
necessary, the special municipal, county, or city competent 
authority may request access to those records, and the 
supplier shall not refuse or interfere with such requests.
Farmers not registered as suppliers under Subparagraph 1 may 
supply their agricultural products to an agricultural 
wholesale market using their personal identification card. 
Agricultural wholesale markets are prohibited from setting a 
minimum supply amount for individual farmers.


Article 19
Anyone applying to become a purchaser at an agricultural 
wholesale market shall submit a specified amount of 
performance bond to the market and shall obtain a purchaser’s 
permit.
The specific amount of the performance bond shall be 
determined by each agricultural wholesale market, subject to 
the submission to and approval by the local competent 
authority.


Article 20
Suppliers or purchasers in an agricultural wholesale market 
are prohibited from engaging in both purchase and supply 
businesses within the same market.


Article 21
The initial wholesale transaction of agricultural products 
shall take place in the local agricultural wholesale market 
unless the following exceptions apply:
1.Products involved in joint marketing by a farmers’ 
  organization for direct supply to export or processing.
2.Products retailed by farmers.
3.In areas where an agricultural wholesale market is not yet 
  established.
4.Farmers designated or approved by a project of the special 
  municipal, county, or city competent authority for direct 
  supply to export or processing.


Article 22
Anyone purchasing agricultural products from farmers in 
districts without an established agricultural wholesale market 
must carry a distributor’s permit, subject to inspection by 
the competent authority when deemed necessary.
To obtain the distributor’s permit referred to in the 
preceding paragraph, an application shall be made to the 
special municipal, county, or city competent authority, with 
no set cap on the number of permitted distributors.
Details related to the distributor’s permit, including 
application procedures, criteria and required capital amount, 
validity periods, and available supports and incentives, shall 
be prescribed by regulations established by the Central Competent Authority for assistance, guidance, and management.


Article 23
To ensure a stable product supply, agricultural wholesale 
markets may establish supply contracts, marketing programs 
with guaranteed prices, financing arrangements, or other 
applicable measures based on actual needs.


Article 24
In the initial wholesale transaction of agricultural products, 
when the agricultural wholesale market issues sales vouchers 
on behalf of farmers or farmers’ organizations, they shall be 
exempted from stamp duties and business taxes.


Article 25
Transaction modes of agricultural wholesale markets include 
auctioning, price negotiation, price marking, and bidding. 
Suppliers may specify the lowest transaction price.


Article 26: 
Suppliers are, in principle, responsible for grading and 
packaging agricultural products sold at an agricultural 
wholesale market. The market may assume this responsibility 
for products not graded or packaged by suppliers, with 
associated fees deducted from the payment for the products. 
Regulations concerning grading and packaging standards, 
periodic inspections, incentives for improvement, and the 
purchase and usage of packing containers for agricultural 
products shall be established by the Central Competent 
Authority.


Article 27
Agricultural wholesale markets may impose a management fee on both suppliers and purchasers, with the fee-charging standards subject to review and approval by the Central Competent Authority.


Article 28
Agricultural wholesale markets offering grading, packaging, sorting, refrigerating, freezing, ice making, storage, transportation, electric slaughtering, or other related facilities may charge users fees based on fee-charging standards reviewed and approved by the special municipal, county, or city competent authority.


Article 29
Operators of agricultural wholesale markets must obtain approval from the competent authority to engage in other 
businesses. The operations and accounting of such businesses 
shall be independent, and the competent authority may conduct 
inspections at any time.


Article 30
Agricultural wholesale markets shall publicly announce 
today’s transaction prices and quantities for its own 
transactions and those of other important markets, at a 
prominent location within the market.


Article 31
For unsatisfactory operation of an agricultural wholesale 
market, the special municipal, county, or city competent 
authority may issue an order for improvement or rectification. 
When necessary, the local competent authority may request the 
Central Competent Authority to mandate the market’s 
reorganization, merger by operation of the law, or 
cancellation of the operation permit.


Chapter 4 Retailing
Article 32
Any retail market engaged in agricultural product marketing 
shall register with the special municipal, county, or city 
competent authority.


Article 33
Farmers or farmers’ organizations may enter into contracts 
with retailers or retailers’ organizations to supply 
agricultural products required by the latter in districts 
where no agricultural wholesale market has been established 
yet.


Article 34
Special municipal, county, and city competent authorities 
shall assist, guide, and manage the retailing of agricultural 
products to safeguard public health, ensure production-
marketing coordination, and promote fair pricing and 
profitability.


Chapter 5 Penal Provisions
Article 35
Anyone violating the provisions specified in Paragraph 1, 
Article 6, or Paragraph 1, Article 14, shall be subjected to a 
fine of more than NT$60,000 but less than NT$300,000, and 
their permits shall be cancelled if applicable.
Anyone violating the provisions specified in Paragraph 2, 
Article 6, in a manner that disrupts the orderly marketing of 
agricultural products shall be subjected to a fine of more 
than NT$60,000 but less than NT$300,000.


Article 36
Anyone violating the provisions specified in Article 20, 
Paragraph 1 of Article 22, Article 29, or Article 32 shall be 
subjected to a fine of more than NT$6,000 but less than NT
$30,000, and their permits may be canceled if applicable.


Article 37
Anyone falling under any of the following situations shall be 
subjected to a fine of more than NT$3,000 but less than NT
$18,000, and their permits may be canceled if applicable:
1.Violating the provisions specified in Paragraph 2, Article 
  18.
2.Violating the provisions specified in Article 21.
3.Allowing others to use their distributor’s permit or 
  purchaser’s permit.


Article 38
Penalties stipulated in the Act shall be imposed by the 
special municipal, county, or city competent authority after 
conducting an investigation.


Article 39
Anyone who refuses to pay the fines stipulated in this Act 
will be transferred to the court for compulsory execution.


Chapter 6 Supplementary Provisions
Article 40
(Deleted)


Article 41
(Deleted)


Article 42
The enforcement rules of this Act shall be established by the 
Central Competent Authority.


Article 43
The effective date of this Act shall be determined by the 
Executive Yuan through an order.