In Taiwan, aquatic product trade is co-managed by a host of competent authorities in agriculture, sanitation, and trade and economy. As such, in addressing the requests of importing countries, a cross-departmental collaboration mechanism is often initiated to deliberate on a case-by-case basis, and to define the task of each participating department in assisting the industry to respond to such requests. However, the requirements of each importing country vary, and a case-by-case, cross-departmental collaborative approach not only is time-consuming, but could mean missed export opportunities for Taiwan, while creating huge burden on the entire administrative system.

To help improve the government’s efficiency in managing aquatic product exports, the study aims to analyze and compare the aquatic product export management schemes of top exporters worldwide with a similar export product and target market profile to Taiwan, namely the US, China, India, Vietnam, and Thailand. The analysis results are expected to help identify practices that are suitable for Taiwan, minimize the need for case-by-case cross-departmental deliberations, and ultimately to inform recommended adjustments to the current export management system in Taiwan.

The comparative analysis has shown that the countries have different management schemes for aquatic product exports, as the market conditions and the economic importance of aquatic products are different among them. From production to export, Taiwan’s management system for aquatic products has more in common with that of the US. Therefore, without drastic change to the existing organizational structure and division of work, it would be helpful to learn about how the US government copes with requirements of importing countries. On the other hand, while Vietnam, Thailand, China, and India have their own unique management schemes, they differ significantly from Taiwan’s. Modeling the Taiwanese system after theirs, while a possible strategy, needs to be considered carefully as it might require considerable organizational and functional restructuring that come with high administrative costs, deviate from the objective of reducing cross-departmental discussions, and offset the benefits gained by the industry.

Drawing upon the results of the analysis on the aquatic product management systems of the US, China, India, Vietnam and Thailand, their approaches to address the import requirements, as well as insights from local industry experts, the study proposes five policy recommendations aimed at reducing relevant cross-departmental consultations and facilitating effective administrative management. The policy recommendations include: (1) keeping the current collaborative model for domestic production, processing, import and logistics management of aquatic products and processed products, with export management as the key target for adjustment; (2) integrating the function of issuing relevant export certification for domestic aquatic products and processed products at the export management stage, an approach adopted in the US Seafood Inspection Program; (3) integrating the function of providing a list of seafood processing facilities; (4) identifying coordination gaps in the current government management model through industry survey and developing solutions to build a national aquatic product export management scheme that meets industry needs; (5) establishing a repository of relevant laws and regulations for top aquatic product importing countries. The details of each policy recommendation can be found in Chapter 6 of this study.

The study consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 provides an introduction, and Chapter 2 analyzes the global and domestic aquatic products trade. Chapter 3 reviews the Taiwanese government’s management system for aquatic product exports, and explores previous cases of cross-departmental deliberations initiated in response to import requirements. The relevant cases include: “Indonesia's new sanitary certificate for imported aquatic products,” “New system registration requirements from Saudi Food and Drug Authority,” “Import regulations for aquatic by-products in South Korea,” “Submission of the list of Vietnamese aquatic processing plants and fishing vessels,” and “New sanitary certificate format in the United Arab Emirates.” Chapter 4 investigates the government management systems for aquatic exports in the US, China, India, Vietnam and Thailand. Chapter 5 summarizes the practices of the above five countries in addressing aquatic import requirements, and presents the opinions of domestic industry experts on improving Taiwan’s aquatic export management system. The research conclusion and recommendations are presented in Chapter 6.