G/TBT/N/TPKM/364  
 
1 March 2019  
(19-1190) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member: THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS  TERRITORY OF TAIWAN , PENGHU, 
KINMEN AND MATSU   
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible:  
Agriculture and Food Agency  
Council of Agriculture  
8, Kuang -Hua Road, Chung -Hsing New Village  
Nantou 54044, Taiwan  
TEL: (886 -49) 2332 -380 ext 2429  
FAX: (886-49) 234 -1092  
E-mail: hsiuhui@mail.afa.gov.tw  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regard ing the notification shall be indicated if different from above:   
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [  ], 2.10.1 [  ], 5.6.2 [X], 5.7.1 [  ], other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable): Organic 
Agricultural Products  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document: Mandatory and 
Prohibitory Items in the Contracts between Certification Bodies and Agricultural Product 
Operators (Draft) (6 page(s), in Chinese)   
6. Description of content: The Organic Agriculture Prom otion Act was promulgated on 
30 May 2018 and will enter into effect o n 30 May 2019. In accordance with Paragraph 1 
of Article 14 of the Act, the "Mandatory and Prohibitory Items in the Contracts between 
Certification Bodies and Agricultural Product Operators " was drafted to ensure consistency 
of management The proposed text  took into account current experiences of implementing 
production and certification of organic agricultural products as well as practices adopted 
in developed countries. The draft contains 18 Clauses, which are summarized as follows:  
1. Description of Terms u sed in the contract. (Clause 2)  
2. Documents to be submitted by agricultural products operators, certification 
procedures, conditions of rejecting certification. (Clauses 3 to 6)  
3. Obligations of certified agricultural product operators to apply for adding or 
reducing certification scope; the usage, validity period and extension of 
certification certificates. (Clauses 7 to 11)  
4. Supervision and surveillance of certified operators by certification bodies. 
(Clauses 12 to 13)  G/TBT/N/TPKM/364  
 
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  5. Retention period of records of agricultural products operators and management 
of organic marks. (Clauses 14 to 15)  
6. Calculation of loss and damage incurred on agricultural products operators by 
misconduct of certification bodies in the operation of certification activities 
(Clauses 16 -18). 
7. Conditions of withdrawing certification of agricultu ral products operators. 
(Clause  19) 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable: Prevention of deceptive practices and consumer protection  
8. Relevant documents:   
Organic Agriculture Promotion Act   
9. Proposed date of adoption:  To be determined  
Proposed date of entry into force: 30 May 2019  
10. Final date for comments: 60 days from notification  
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available, of other body:   
WTO/TBT Enquiry Point  
Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection  
Ministry of Economic Affairs  
No.4, Sec. 1, Jinan Rd.  
Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City 100, Taiwan  
Tel: +(886 2) 2343 -1813 
Fax: +(886 2) 2343 -1804 
E-mail: tbtenq@bsmi.gov.tw  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachm ents/2019/TBT/TPKM/19_1132_00_x.pdf