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.