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Mainland, Taiwan sign pacts on fishing, etc
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-23 07:12
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TAICHUNG: Chinese mainland and Taiwan negotiators Tuesday agreed to cooperate in farm produce quarantine and cross-Strait employment of fishermen, as well as to deal with different product quality standards.
 Chen Yunlin (L, front), president of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), and Chiang Pin-kung (R, front), chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), sign agreements in Taichung, southeast China's Taiwan, Dec. 22, 2009. [Xinhua] |
Three agreements were reached at the talks between the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), which handle cross-Strait issues on behalf of their respective authorities.
Experts from both the mainland and Taiwan hailed the latest agreements as a move forward in clearing obstacles and facilitating cross-Strait economic and trade partnership.
The ARATS and SEF talks, the fourth round since they resumed negotiations in June last year after a 10-year suspension, began Tuesday morning.
FARM PRODUCE
Under the pact on farm produce quarantine, the two sides agreed to deal with the difference of food safety standards and set up a mechanism to cope with farm produce quarantine emergencies.
They promised "prompt information sharing, quick investigation and assistance to each other" in case of emergencies.
The mainland and Taiwan will inform each other of epidemic outbreaks related to farm produce and report regularly on safety problems found in farm produce exports and imports, such as toxic substances and harmful infestations.
They will also set up a system to trace farm produce quality across the Strait, which means Taiwan would assist mainland importers to investigate production and processing of its farm produce and vice versa.
Both sides will ease quarantine measures on produce that pass investigations, according to the pact.
Farm produce, especially fruit, is an increasingly important part of cross-Strait trade. Many Taiwan farmers and agriculture firms are investing in the mainland.
Hua Xiaohong, director of the Research Center of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Economic Studies in the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics, said the agreement would further facilitate the cross-Strait trade of farm produce.
"The mainland has adopted lots of preferential policies towards agricultural imports from Taiwan over the years. This agreement is another remarkable step in normalizing agricultural trade between the mainland and Taiwan," Hua said.
