. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/TPKM/217 
11 February 2011  
 (11-0684) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEASURES 
 
1. Notifying Member:  THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, 
PENGHU, KINMEN AND MATSU   
If applicable, name of local government involved:     
2. Agency responsible:  Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numbe r(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO;  ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Vacuum-packed food 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable: 
[X] All trading partners   
[ ] Specific regions or countries:    
5. Title of the notified document:  The Draft Regulations Governing the Certification of 
Vacuum-Packed Food  Language(s):  English  Number of pages:  4 
 http://members.wto.org/crnattach ments/2011/sps/TPKM/11_0300_00_e.pdf
 http://members.wto.org/crnattach ments/2011/sps/TPKM/11_0300_00_x.pdf  
6. Description of content:  These Regulations shall apply to the certification of vacuum-
packed food.  When a vacuum-packed food is certified, the certification body shall sign a contract with the applicant and issue a sta ndard seal of vacuum-packed food certificate. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [X] food safety, [ ] animal health, [ ] plant protection, 
[  ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [ ] protect territory from other 
damage from pests.    
8. Nature of the urgent problem(s) and reason for urgent action:  Botulism is a serious 
paralytic illness caused by a neurotoxin  that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium 
botulinum .  These rod-shaped organisms grow best  in low oxygen environment such as 
vacuum-packed foods.  There were eight outbreaks of botulism in Chinese Taipei this year, and one person dead of botulism.  Most of the cases were correlated with vacuum-packed 
foods.  To prevent botulism, the emergency ac tion was taken to legislate for related food 
proprietors of vacuum-packed foods. G/SPS/N/TPKM/217 
Page 2  
 
  9. Is there a relevant international standard ?  If so, identify the standard:  
[ ] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g. title or serial number of Codex standard 
or related text)   
[ ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g. Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number)   
[ ] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g. ISPM number)   
[X] None Does this proposed regulation conform to  the relevant international standard? 
 [ ] Yes   [ ] No 
 If no, describe, whenever possible, how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:    
10. Other relevant documents and langu age(s) in which these are available:   "The Draft 
Regulations Governing the Certificati on of Vacuum-Packed Food" (DOH Food 
No.0991302841, 26 January 2011) is availabl e in English from the National Notification 
Authority, National Enquiry Point, and Department of Health.  The standards will be published in the Official Government Gaze tte when adopted.  The full text may be 
downloaded from the following website:  http://www.fda.gov.tw/eng/people_laws_list.aspx
 
11. Date of entry into force ( dd/mm/yy )/period of application (as applicable):  
To be determined. 
[ ] Trade facilitating measure   
12. Agency or authority designated to handl e comments:  [ ] National Notification 
Authority, [ ] National Enquiry Point.  Address, fax number and e-mail address (if 
available) of other body:   
Food and Drug Administration  
Department of Health No.161-2, Kunyang St, Nangang District, Taipei City 115-61, Taiwan  
Tel:  +(886 2) 2653 1318 ext 1189 
Fax:  +(886 2) 2653 1062 E-mail:  griffey@fda.gov.tw 
13. Texts available from:  [X] National Notification Authority, [X] National Enquiry 
Point.  Address, fax number and e-mail address (if available) of other body:   
Food and Drug Administration 
Department of Health 
No.161-2, Kunyang St, Nangang District, Taipei City 115-61, Taiwan  
Tel:  +(886 2) 2653 1318 ext 1189 Fax:  +(886 2) 2653 1062 E-mail:  griffey@fda.gov.tw