The Council of Agriculture says that Taiwan has signed agreements with Australia and New Zealand to recognize each other’s organic produce.
The council made the statement on Monday after Taiwan signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Australia in January and with New Zealand in February.
The council said the MOUs enable Taiwan to boost trade in organic produce with the two countries, paving the way for greater agricultural cooperation.
The MOUs are in line with the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act, which Taiwan passed in 2018. Under that act, Taiwan will not recognize the organic produce of any country that fails to sign an MOU with Taiwan by May 30 of this year. Without signing an MOU, countries will not be able to label imports to Taiwan as “organic.”
Taiwan signed an MOU with Japan last October, and is planning to negotiate similar agreements with the United States and Canada.