Taiwan is urged to take early action in resolving outstanding trade issues. Despite continuing uncertainty about the ultimate fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact within the U.S. political process, AmCham Taipei’s 2016 “Doorknock” delegation to Washington D.C. heard from many observers inside and outside the U.S. government that Taiwan should take urgent steps…
Controversy rages in the United States over the likely fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP was signed on February 4, 2016, but to take effect it must be ratified by at least six of the signatories, including the United States and Japan. U.S. President Obama has written that the TPP would level the…
Companies have been punished for disseminating disease-awareness information. In Taiwan, as in the rest of the world with the lone exceptions of the United States and New Zealand, pharmaceutical companies are prohibited from advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers. The main rationale for that approach is the belief that decisions on what drug to prescribe…
Two amendments are said to be contrary to Taiwan’s WTO obligations. AmCham Taipei’s Retail Committee has raised questions as to whether two amendments to Article 23 of the School Health Act (SHA), dealing with the provision of lunches to public school students, contravene Taiwan’s obligations to international trade agreements to which it is a party….
The annual talks under the U.S.-Taiwan Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) provide an invaluable platform for high-level dialogue on relevant issues in the interest of further strengthening the bilateral economic relationship. The Taiwan delegation to these TIFA Council meetings is headed by a Vice Minister of Economic Affairs and the American side by a…
Should dishwashing detergent be governed by the food safety law? Should marketing surveys for cosmetics require approval by an independent review board? Through the annual Taiwan White Paper and other channels, AmCham Taipei has sought to call attention to laws and regulations that, while well-intended, have the inadvertent consequence of impairing Taiwan’s economic competitiveness and…
The upcoming TIFA meeting is seen as a good chance to show commitment to liberalization. This year’s AmCham Taipei Doorknock delegation to Washington D.C. found itself in the U.S. capital during a momentous week that included two historic Supreme Court decisions (upholding “Obamacare” and legalizing single-sex marriages nationwide) and – more germane to the Chamber’s…
In its Taiwan White Paper submissions in recent years, AmCham Taipei’s Technology Committee has called on the government to better define the scope and limitation of damages and service-level penalties, as well as to determine the copyright ownership of vendor proposals based on the nature of the project. After numerous discussions, the government has now…
The proposed approach to regulating meal replacement foods would create some serious problems. Meal replacement formula foods and beverages are used most commonly by dieters looking to shed some weight. The product is intended to be only a partial replacement for conventional meals – not the sole contributor to one’s daily intake. Since the purpose…
Food companies find it hard to comply with a rule on the listing of ingredients. In the food industry lexicon, a “carry-over” is a substance – either a food ingredient or a food additive – that is present in a food product only because it is a subcomponent of another ingredient. The carry-over performs no…
