NDC reiterates commitment to regulatory reform

2014-12-17

The government aims to bring Taiwan’s regulatory regime more in line with international practices so as to fast-track the country’s participation in global economic integration, according to the National Development Council Dec. 15.

“The NDC continues to coordinate inter-ministerial actions and monitor the results of policies implemented to address major concerns of foreign firms operating in Taiwan,” the agency said.

To this end, the NDC is working with the Environmental Protection Administration, Ministry of Labor and Ministry of Health and Welfare to review existing regulations governing chemical registration and intellectual property rights protection for pharmaceuticals, among other key issues.

The council’s statement came in response to an article published Dec. 15 in Topics, a monthly publication of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei.

In the article headlined “Taking Stock on White Paper Issues,” AmCham reviewed the government’s recent treatment of chemicals, cigarette smuggling, healthcare and financial services.

“Progress in the past half year has been encouraging on numerous fronts,” AmCham said, adding that nearly all AmCham committees presenting position papers have already received responses from relevant government offices.

Examples of positive developments include the Intellectual Property Office’s commitment to implementing Patent Linkage during the 2014 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council meeting in Washington this April and providing three-year Data Exclusivity protection to new drug indications.

The EPA will set up a single registration system for all chemicals and work with the MOL to create a chemicals database and streamline all related procedures, the NDC added.

In addition, the National Health Insurance Administration has agreed to set up a tracking system to enable companies applying for reimbursement to trace the status of their applications in order to better ensure transparency and efficiency.

AmCham also commended the Financial Supervisory Commission for seeking ways to spur development of the local financial sector, including promoting Taiwan as an offshore yuan investment center and creating business opportunities for local banks’ offshore banking and securities units.

The U.S. business organization expects more positive results over the coming six months, saying such endeavors will bolster Taiwan’s candidacy for membership into the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=225216&ctNode=445)