Minister without Portfolio Chiang Been-huang today inspected Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TTIA) for implementation of the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR) and commended the airport for excellent performance that garnered outstanding reviews by international experts.
Minister Chiang hopes that the airport will serve as a model during the second phase of the IHR implementation plan, which will expand to include five more designated points of entry (Taipei Songshan Airport, Kaohsiung International Airport, Taichung Ching Chuan Kang Airport, Port of Keelung and Port of Taichung).
The minister and his delegation first visited TTIA's operation and control center for a look at the airport's communication capacities for emergency events. Next, they reviewed quarantine, immigration, customs and security check procedures for both arriving and departing passengers. They also paid a visit to the medical center to check on its medical service capacity, and watched demonstrations of fire and disease prevention equipment and personnel. The group was impressed by the airport's disaster response capabilities that had been accumulated through IHR implementation and said TTIA sets a solid example for the other ports.
In addition to applauding the airport's efforts, Minister Chiang urged the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and other agencies to help the airport keep up the excellent results and pass on the know-how to the five ports. Integrating capabilities across ministries and ports will enable the facilities to better detect and respond to public safety emergencies, and contain the threats that arise.
The WHO adopted the latest version of the IHR in 2005, calling on member states to strengthen the abilities of their designated ports for communication, coordination, detection and response regarding public safety hazards. Although Taiwan is not a WHO member state, the Executive Yuan in 2011 approved a plan for fostering such capacities so that Taiwan can better fulfill its obligations as a member of the international community and improve its ports' competitiveness.
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and the Port of Kaohsiung were selected for the first phase of the plan, and having built up their core capacities, passed reviews by international experts with flying colors. The Executive Yuan approved the second phase of the IHR plan in 2014 and designated five more ports. Strengthening the capacities of these points of entry will further lower the risk of public safety hazards and safeguard the lives and property of citizens.
Minister Chiang was accompanied today by Director Shih Tseng-kang of the Executive Yuan's Office of Homeland Security, Health and Welfare Deputy Minister Lin Tzou-yien, Taoyuan International Airport Corp. Chairman Yin Chen-pong, and 40-plus personnel from various agencies and the five ports.