Title of Law

Background of Amendment

Foreign Trade Act

Article 6:

The amendment is to remove previous authorization to take trade restrictive measures when encountering bilateral imbalances of trade. The new version changes the condition for taking such action to imbalance in international payments.

Article 18:

The amendment deletes the words "drastic or large" in describing the amount of increase in imports as a condition to initiate domestic safeguard action. This is to follow the use of language in the Safeguard Agreement.

The amendment also provides a legal basis for the authority to set rules to initiate safeguard action as contemplated in the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing.

Article 20.1:

This is a new addition to the Law which is intended to provide the legal basis for the authority to regulate the pre-shipment inspection activities of firms mandated by foreign governments. It also gives binding effects of the decisions of dispute resolution panel of the WTO Preshipment Inspection Agreement on the private parties concerned, namely, the preshipment inspection company and the exporter.

The Commodity Inspection Law

The amendment exercise is to achieve the following three objectives:

(i) to incorporate international standards in the domestic standard-setting process, so as to ensure that domestic inspection standards follow international trends, the inspection regime meets the requirements of the TBT Agreement,

(ii) to accord national treatment to foreign products in terms of application of simplified procedures and exemption which were previously available only to domestic products,

(iii) to accept and recognize foreign inspection certificates in order to be in line with the spirit of the TBT Agreement, particularly that calling for mutual recognition.

The Trademark Law

The amendments to this Law are to achieve the following objectives:

(i) to broaden the scope of reciprocal granting of the right of priority to cover the situation where the there is no formal agreement but the right of priority is granted to Chinese Taipei's owner of trademark through practice,

(ii) to include combination of colours in the group of items that are capable of constituting a trademark so as to be consistent with Article 15 of the TRIPS Agreement,

(iii) to extend administrative protection to well known marks by providing that no applications may be filed for registration of a trademark design which is identical with or similar to another person's well-known trademark or mark and likely to cause the public to form a mistaken belief.

The Patent Law

The amendments to this Law are to achieve the following objectives:

(i) to delete the requirement of reciprocity in respect of the granting of patents for micro-organisms, extension of patent protection terms and the granting of exclusive import rights so as to be consistent with Articles 3 and 4 of the TRIPS Agreement,

(ii) to limit compulsory licensing in respect of semi-conductor technology to public non-commercial use or to remedying anti-competitive practice, so as to be consistent with Article 31(c) of the TRIPS Agreement,

(iii) to provide patent owners and his/her exclusive licensees the right to request destruction or other necessary disposition of the infringing goods, raw materials or instruments used, in connection with the infringement, so as to meet the requirement of Article 46 of the TRIPS Agreement which calls for giving the judicial authority to order disposition outside the channels of commerce,

(iv) to provide for shifting the burden of proof in respect of process patents as required by Article 34 of the TRIPS Agreement,

(v) to provide for longer term of protection for industrial design, so as to meet the minimum requirement of 10 years of the TRIPS Agreement.

(vi) to extend the term of protection for patents issued prior to January 1994 that are still in effect upon accession to 20 years and 12 years as from the date of filing for invention patents and new design patents respectively.

Company Law

The amendment is to delete the reciprocity requirement for recognition of foreign companies and public offering of foreign companies' shares and corporate bonds so as to fulfil Chinese Taipei's commitments under the GATS.

Customs Law

This set of amendments is to achieve the following objectives:

(i) to provide a legal basis for application of tariff-quotas negotiated by Chinese Taipei as substitution measures for existing restrictions,

(ii) to provide for a duty of secrecy on customs personnel in respect of information submitted for assessment of import duties, so as to meet the requirement of Article 10 of the Agreement on Customs Valuation,

(iii) to provide a legal basis for the establishment of the rules of origin and the authority to require the submission of the certificates of origin,

(iv) to revise the customs valuation rules according to the Agreement on Customs Valuation,

(v) to delete the provisions that limit the drawback of import duties to imports of machinery by certain high-tech or important companies whose products are solely for export,

(vi) to revise the provision relating to determination of normal value for purposes of anti-dumping administration so as to make it consistent with Article 2 of the Anti-dumping Agreement.

Statute for Commodity Tax

The amendments are to achieve the following objectives:

(i) to delete rules relating to tobacco and alcohol products as this part of the Law will be replaced by the new Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Law, a separate body of law,

(ii) to delete allowance for deduction of 12 per cent promotion expenses in the calculation of tax base, when goods are not circulated through exclusive distributors, as a reflection of Chinese Taipei's accession commitment,

(iii) to exclude harbour construction dues from the tax base for commodity tax.

(iv) to reduce the tax levied on motor vehicles with a displacement over 2001 cubic centimetres from 35% to 30% within 6 years after the implementation of this Statute.

(v) to eliminate the tax deduction provided to manufacturers of automobiles and motorcycles using domestically developed and designed parts.

Business Tax Law

The amendments are to exclude harbour construction dues from the tax base of the business tax and to require that the business tax base shall include tobacco and alcohol tax as provided in the new Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Law.

The Securities and Exchange Law

Article 54: This amendment is to delete the requirement that the certain business personnel of securities firms be Chinese Taipei residents.

Article 95: This amendment is to delete the limitation that only one stock exchange can be established in one geographical area,

Article 128: This amendment is to delete the limitation that only Chinese Taipei residents can be shareholders of a stock exchange in company form.

The Certified Public Accountants Law

The amendment is to delete the reciprocity requirement for foreigners to take the examination and be qualified as certified public accountants in Chinese Taipei.

Commercial Port Law

To eliminate harbour construction dues, which was levied on ad valorem basis, and collect harbour service fee based on, inter alia, the gross register tonnage of vessels entering the harbour, the weight of cargo loaded and unloaded in the harbour, and the number of departing passengers in order to be consistent with Article 8 of the GATT 1994.

Lawyers' Law

This set of amendments is directed:

(i) to provide a statutory basis for allowing Chinese Taipei lawyers to hire foreigners to work as consultants or legal assistants,

(ii) to delete the reciprocity requirement for foreigners to take the bar examination and become qualified to practice Chinese Taipei law,

(iii) to provide the statutory basis and qualification standards for allowing foreign lawyers to practice the laws of their home countries and international law in Chinese Taipei.

Architects' Law

The amendment is to delete the reciprocity requirement for foreigners to take the architects' examination and become qualified to practice in Chinese Taipei.

Statute Governing Privileges and Immunities of the Foreign Missions and their Personnel in Chinese Taipei

This addition to the Law is to extend privileges and immunities to WTO related personnel for purposes of Article 8 of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization.

Law of Pharmaceutical Affairs

This amendment is to lift the restriction on and provide rules for regulating repackaging of imported pharmaceutical products.

Law Governing Food Sanitation

The amendment is to provide the labelling of food products with an option to use the date of manufacture or the expiry date as a code for product identification.

The Publication Law

This law was repealed on 25 January 1999.

Central Bank Act

The amendment is to replace current limitation on foreign liabilities of banks operating in Chinese Taipei with reserve requirements.

Banking Law

This amendment is to compliment the amendment of Article 23 of the Central Bank Act in respect of the authority in the setting of the deposit reserve ratio and reserves for other liabilities.

Copyright Law

The amendments to this Law are to achieve the following objectives:

1) To amend the definitions for public broadcast and public performance;

2) To provide computer programs with the same level of protection as that of literary works;

3) To include explicit protection for performances;

4) To revise the provisions regarding the ownership of works created in the course of employment or under commission. These revisions are aimed at reducing tension which have existed between the employers and employees under the old law;

5) To revise the provisions regarding the moral right of integrity in order to accommodate the use and circulation of works;

6) To expand the subject matter of works protected by the public display rights;

7) To delete provisions mandating the competent authority to set the minimum prices for the transfer of economic rights of works and the royalties for the use of such works. This change is made because that market mechanism should be allowed to determine these prices;

8) To delete provisions concerning compulsory licenses for translations in accordance with TRIPS and the Berne Convention;

9) To amend provisions regarding compulsory mechanical licensing for musical works. This is based on the ideal of promoting the circulation of musical works;

10) To abolish the copyright registration system;

11) To afford a life plus 50 years or 50 years term of retroactive protection for works not protected prior to Chinese Taipei's accession to the WTO.

Copyright Intermediary Organization Act

The new legislation is to promote and to facilitate the use of copyrighted works by the general public through well-established professional copyright intermediary organizations, following examples from international practices.

Statute for Establishment and Management of Economic Processing Zone

The amendments to this Statute are to promote international trade by means of the following:

1) To replace the original policy objective of export- oriented by international trade promotion;

2) To expand the scope and depth of business within the zone, including trade, consultation, R&D and technical services;

3) To encourage investments by the elimination of restrictions on establishing businesses within the zone;

4) To increase administrative efficiency within the zone by simplifying the customs clearance process, consistent with the Negative List provided by Article 11 of the Foreign Trade Act;

5) To delete the provision which excludes duty drawback on imported machinery sold to in-zone enterprises by firms located in areas where tariff is leviable in order to eliminate the possible tendency to encourage purchase of locally-produced machinery;

6) To eliminate the local sale restriction;

7) To provide that the customs duties levied on the products produced in this zone and sold in the local market shall be based on ex-factory prices minus value added attributable to this zone.

Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Law

Following the tobacco and alcohol reform plan, the new Law is to provide legislative mandate to the administrative authorities for the opening-up of the tobacco and alcohol products. The new Law aims to achieve the following:

1) To provide a legal basis for the authorities to regulate the manufacture and the distribution of tobacco and alcohol products;

2) To provide definitions of tobacco and alcohol products;

3) To forestall international trade disputes by preventing the prevalence of counterfeit products and ensuring established standards are implemented and enforced in the manufacture of tobacco and alcohol products;

4) To protect national health interests by including measures such as guidelines on labelling tobacco and alcohol products and regulations on advertisements.

Statute Governing the Organization of National Treasury, Ministry of Finance

The amendments of this Statute reflect the administrative modifications made with the reform of the tobacco and alcohol monopoly. A department will be added to the current organizational structure to implement administrative requirements established in the new Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Law.

Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Law

The new legislation is to achieve the following:

1) To provide definitions of tobacco and alcoholic beverages;

2) To establish a new tax system in light of the reform of the tobacco and alcohol monopoly to facilitate tax collection;

3) To establish tax collection procedures to facilitate the enforcement of the new tax regime.

Food Management Law

The amendment to this Law had been made to implement Chinese Taipei's commitment on lifting the rice import ban upon accession to the WTO, and to provide a legal basis for collecting mark-up.

Customs Import Tariff and Classification of Import & Export Commodities

It is amended in accordance with the Schedule of Concessions of the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu as annexed to this Working Party Report.

Statute for Agriculture Development

The amendments to this Statute are to achieve the following:

1) To introduce competitive pricing system by deleting "uniform pricing" for exported agricultural products, to complement the enforcement of the Fair Trade Law and open-market mechanisms;

2) To expand the Statute to include special safeguard provisions consistent with the WTO Agreement on Agriculture;

3) To introduce measures to prevent the monopolization of the market.

Statute Governing the Organization of the Public Construction Commission

The amendments to this Statute reflect the re-structured and expanded responsibilities of the Public Construction Commission. The changes include:

1) To establish a committee within the Commission to handle complaints by suppliers on government procurement projects

2) To establish an information office within the Commission as a centralized information system on public construction and government procurement projects;

3) To provide technical assistance and support to other government agencies in matters relating to government procurement.

Statute for Inspection Procedure Governing Properties by Government Agencies

The statute was repealed on 4 June 1999 as the Government Procurement Law took effect on 27 May 1999.

Government Procurement Law

To mandate government procurement procedures to be consistent with the rules of WTO Government Procurement Agreement.

To institute dispute settlement procedure in the context of government procurements.

Government Procurement Law took effect on 27 May 1999.

Fair Trade Law

The amendment is to achieve the following objectives:

1) To increase the pecuniary burden on persons and enterprises that violate the Fair Trade Law.

2) To enhance the Commissions ability to impose more significant fines on enterprises that do not comply with Commission directives and dispositions.

3) To conform with the principle of "disposing cases through administrative channels before resorting to the judicial system".

Article 41

With respect to enterprises that violate the provisions of this Law, the Fair Trade Commission may specify a time period within which the enterprise is required to cease or rectify its conduct or within which it must adopt corrective measures; in addition, the Fair Trade Commission may impose a fine of between fifty thousand and twenty-five million NT Dollars. If within the specified time-period the enterprise fails to cease or rectify its conduct, or to take corrective measures, the Fair Trade Commission may continue to specify a time period within which the required to cease or rectify its conduct or within which it must adopt corrective measures, and may impose successive fines of between one hundred thousand and fifty million NT Dollars until the acts in question cease or are rectified or until the corrective measures are adopted.

The Statute for the Establishment and Administration of a Science-Based Industrial Park

To delete the provision which excludes duty drawback on machinery sold in this zone in order to eliminate the possibility of encouraging park-based enterprises to purchase locally-produced machinery.

Telecommunication Act

To relax the percentage of foreign equity ownership of local telecommunication business for direct and indirect investment in accordance with the commitments made in the Service Schedule.

Law for the Administration of State Owned Enterprises

To eliminate the preferential treatment on procurement of locally-produced material and equipment by state owned enterprises.