Taiwan is set to work with a Canadian company, which will verify whether the nation is adhering to international maritime standards. The transportation ministry’s Maritime and Port Bureau signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the company – called Comart – on Monday.
The reason Taiwan is working with a private company is because it is not a member of the United Nations, because of opposition from China. That means Taiwan is also not a member of the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO), which regulates shipping safety and prevents pollution by ships.
The IMO passed a resolution in 2005 which paved the way for voluntary audits by member states. But since then, the organization’s governing body has decided to make those audits mandatory, starting in 2016.
The Canadian company Comart is set to help Taiwan invite a senior IMO auditor to come and conduct a review. The director of Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau, Chi Wen-jong, explains.
“The unique nature of cross-strait relations makes it difficult for us to navigate our way in the international community," said Chi. "So we are hoping to use this sort of maritime technical cooperation with Canada to send the results to the organization’s secretary-general, or to his office. Perhaps we can go through our overseas representatives, and put out press releases to let the organization know about Taiwan’s contributions to the international maritime environment, and that we have done well in this regard.”
Chi said that Taiwan is hoping to use similar methods to proactively seek invitations to participate in other similar international efforts, and to increase the competitiveness of Taiwan’s international shipping industry.