In a bid to lessen the negative impact of WTO accession on Taiwan's agricultural sector, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday instructed the immediate appropriation of NT$1 billion from the Cabinet's "secondary reserve" for the Council of Agriculture (COA). The council will be responsible for implementing measures to cope with the expected price fluctuations of agricultural products.
"The fund will be used to set up a mechanism to deal with the impact on the agricultural sector after lower-priced agricultural products are allowed in," COA chairman Chen Hsi-huang (陳希煌) told a press conference yesterday.
Chen said that the council had previously proposed a budget of NT$27.4 billion for the first year following Taiwan's WTO accession. The government's financial difficulties, however, have hindered it from fully funding the council's proposal.
"The premier did say, however, that the council will be able to propose budget plans later, when-ever necessary, which the Cabinet will find ways to appropriate and offset," Chen said.
Pressed by the media, Chen added that the council has proposed a budget of NT$15.5 billion for the measures' implementation in the central government's 2002 budget proposal, but he had no figures for next year's proposed budget.
The former KMT government had planned a total budget of NT$150 billion for Taiwan to enter the WTO and implement necessary measures to help domestic industries upgrade.
However, as Taiwan's official WTO entry draws closer, the DPP government is in a financial bind.
To deal with the cash shortage, Chang said on Monday that the council has NT$24.6 billion in an agricultural development fund and NT$14.2 billion in funds for damage resulting from foreign agricultural imports, and proposed that this money be used for post-WTO measures, if necessary.
Chang, at yesterday's meeting, also instructed the council to put a quarantine system in place to fully examine agricultural imports to safeguard public hygiene.
Chen also said yesterday that the council has estimated that approximately 22,500 farmers will be forced to quit farming next year and that, in 2004 -- the third year of Taiwan's WTO membership -- 33,000 farmers would still be feeling the negative impact.
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