Taipei, 16 April – The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) has announced that it has resolved 4 issues and made progress on a further 11 of the issues that were raised in its 2013 Position Papers. The announcement follows the chamber's meeting with the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) and attended by Taiwan's major government ministries and agencies to discuss the government's official reply to the business issues raised in the papers. The annual meeting brought together around 30 officials from a number of government ministries and agencies to discuss priority issues with co-chairs of the ECCT's industry and support committees. The meeting is the culmination of dozens of bilateral meetings held between the ECCT and various government agencies over the course of the past year.

Following the meeting, the chairman of the ECCT, Giuseppe Izzo said, "The meeting was very productive with positive interaction between our committee co-chairs and government officials. The good progress on our 2013 position paper issues was made possible thanks to the excellent relationship we have with the Taiwan government and the hard work of our committees. Despite progress, there is more work to do and we will continue to cooperate with our colleagues in the government to find better ways to improve the regulatory environment and make Taiwan more competitive."

In his welcoming remarks, CEPD Minister Kuan Chung-ming said the government welcomes input from the ECCT and works to incorporate the chamber's feedback into its policy recommendations. In his remarks, CEPD Deputy Minister Wu Ming-ji, who chaired the meeting, said that he hoped the ECCT's transition to a nationwide association would enhance the chamber's dialogue with all parties. He also said that the CEPD hopes to maintain good relations with the ECCT so that both sides can cooperate to improve the business environment.

On issues where progress was not made, government agencies agreed to re-evaluate some of their current positions and arrange follow-up meetings with the ECCT. Meetings will be held between the relevant government agencies and the Automotive, Beverage Alcohol, Human Resources and Tax committees in the weeks ahead.

ECCT issues resolved

Asset Management
SITE's fees for securities firms' services: Following reviews by the Securities and Future's Bureau and the Financial Examination Bureau as well as industry players, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) will allow market forces to decide reasonable fees for securities firms' services as long as healthy competition and transparency in the financial market can be ensured.

Better Living
Equality of treatment for foreign residents - Health checks: The National Immigration Agency has approved the exemption of applicants and their family members from submitting health check certificates when applying for an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) in cases where a dependent spouse holds a nationality that is different from the job-holder, provided that nationals from the spouse's country are usually exempt from having to undergo health checks.

Beverage Alcohol
Strategy to reduce harm from alcohol: Following the ECCT's recommendation, authorities agreed that existing regulations governing alcoholic beverages are sufficient and that all stakeholders should work together to identify and implement non-legislated solutions that seek to enhance public awareness of the effects of misuse and encourage the responsible consumption of alcohol.

Pharmaceutical
Sustainable management of drug expenditure: The Department of Health (DoH) has implemented a two-year Drug Expenditure Target (DET) pilot programme, which follows ECCT recommendations to introduce a sustainable price adjustment mechanism to manage drug expenditure in the public health service.

ECCT issues where progress was made

Asset Management
Developing Taiwan-based wealth management business and cross-Strait financial services: Authorities now permit onshore funds to be denominated in renminbi (RMB). Offshore funds still may not be denominated in RMB.
Pension fund scheme reform: Financial regulators are planning to set up the framework for a self-directed pension fund scheme by the end of this year.

Banking
Promoting Taiwan as an offshore RMB market: Taiwan's Central Bank (CBC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with its mainland Chinese counterpart to allow RMB business to be conducted both onshore through Domestic Banking Units (DBUs) and offshore through Offshore Banking Units (OBUs).

Simplifying the application process for new outsourcing services: The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has updated the Q&A of rules governing internal operating systems and procedures for the outsourcing of financial institutions' operations and the application process has been partially simplified.

Electrical Engineering & Equipment
Directive 401: The Minister of Economic Affairs' Bureau of Energy (BoE) will allow companies to submit self-declarations that products manufactured at their ISO-9001-certified factories meet Taiwan's safety standards. The BoE will accept these self-declarations for an initial period of three years. This validation period could be extended for another three years after the relevant factories have been visited by the BoE. These conditions offer companies a temporary reprieve and allow them to conduct their regular business of commissioning and quotations that would otherwise have been severely disrupted.

Healthcare Enhancement
PRC import ban: The ban on two items manufactured in China and listed on the Healthcare Enhancement committee's 2013 PRC import ban priority list has been lifted and can now be imported into Taiwan. (Please see appendix for the list of items.)

Insurance
Foreign currency-denominated traditional insurance products: The FSC is considering adding a clause to ease the foreign investment restrictions for smaller insurance companies.

Luxury Goods
PRC import ban: The ban on 50 items manufactured in China and listed on the Luxury Goods committee's 2013 PRC import ban priority list has been lifted and may now be imported into Taiwan. (Please see appendix for the list of items.)

Retail & Distribution

Product labeling issues - Commodity labeling law: The Department of Commerce is planning to submit draft regulations to the legislature in line with ECCT recommendations that makes the printing of the following on product labels optional rather than compulsory: 1) Manufacturers' information (only importers' information is required) and 2) The date of manufacture for non-perishable items.
Product labeling issues - Labeling of multi-packs: The Department of Health will allow importers to print clear "Not Available for Resale" or similar wording on original product labels and to make agreements with purchasers to clarify the labeling responsibility with retailers who decide to break up and resell smaller units of a multi-pack.

PRC import ban: The ban on the nine items manufactured in China and listed on the Retail & Distribution committee's 2013 PRC import ban priority list has been lifted and may now be imported into Taiwan. (Please see appendix for the list of items.)

About the ECCT
With over US$31 billion in direct foreign investments, European business remains the largest group of foreign investors in Taiwan. The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan is the principle organisation promoting European business interests in Taiwan. The chamber represents around 750 members from 400 companies and organisations. Through a network of 29 industry and support committees, the ECCT has been successful in addressing specific concerns and providing concrete recommendations to all levels of government to facilitate improving the business environment. The ECCT annually publishes a series of position papers that comprise issues identified by its committees as hindering the further development of their respective industries and provide recommendations to the government of Taiwan for improvement of the business environment on general issues as well as industry-specific problems. They also serve to keep the European Commission, the European Parliament as well as the governments of individual European Union member states informed about Taiwan's business environment.

Appendix:
Progress on the PRC import ban

The ban on the importation of following items, which appeared on the priority lists of the Healthcare Enhancement, Luxury Goods and Retail & Distribution committees, has been lifted:

Healthcare Enhancement

Luxury Goods

Retail & Distribution