In order to comprehensively plan food safety policies, coordinate central and local agencies to prevent and handle major incidents, and promote the establishment of a "food cloud" to safeguard citizens' health, the Executive Yuan's food safety task force will be transformed and expanded into an office on October 22, yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun announced today.
Sun pointed out that President Ma Ying-jeou recently gathered high-ranking officials from the presidential office, Executive Yuan and National Security Council for a national security meeting, during which he instructed the administration to promote inter-ministerial food safety management by raising it to a higher organizational tier.
The Executive Yuan immediately assigned Minister without Portfolio Chiang Been-huang (soon to become minister of health and welfare) to convene relevant agencies on October 16 to study and discuss preparations for the new food safety office, including its organization, position, personnel, budget, office location and equipment.
The office will be a standing task force responsible for supervising and coordinating the promotion of inter-ministerial food safety management. The legal basis for its establishment is Article 14 of the Organizational Act of the Executive Yuan, Sun indicated.
A minister without portfolio will supervise the office's operations; for the moment Minister Chiang will handle the task. A director and a deputy director will be appointed to manage the office's general affairs as well.
The office will consist of sections for management and negotiation, response and communication, inspection and crackdowns, and information services. Its 20 staff members will include foundation personnel, contract workers with professional experience in the field, and officials from relevant agencies, including the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and Council of Agriculture. Some staff are moving into the office today (October 20) in advance of its official establishment Wednesday.
During the October 13 high-level national security meeting to address food safety, President Ma instructed national security agencies to go all-out to collect and report food safety warnings and uncover sources of illegalities.
On October 16, the National Security Bureau, National Police Agency and MOJ Investigation Bureau held an "advance warning" meeting. Within two weeks, they will gather all inspection and prosecution information about food safety incidents and submit it to the Executive Yuan food safety office. If there is a cross-jurisdictional investigation, the office will assign its prosecutor—assigned to its staff by a high prosecutors office—to assist with coordination.
The advance warning meeting also included personnel from the Coast Guard Administration, National Immigration Agency and Military Police Command to facilitate the maritime seizure of unsafe food products inside and outside the nation's borders.