The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) will push for amendments to the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法) to simplify regulation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), moving the nation from a “permit” to a “registration” system, Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) said yesterday.
Yeh said “there are remnants of authoritarianism” in the complex system of regulations facing civil organizations — from their establishment to operations.
The ministry will move to simplify regulations to remove permit requirements and maximize self-governance for organizations.
“We will no longer act as a reviewer when an organization is established,” he said. “The system should move from requiring permits to just registering.”
“As for NGOs, such as how many directors and controllers they have and how they choose their president or board chairman, we should respect them as much as possible,” he said.
However, the ministry will continue with plans to propose legislation obligating NGOs to make their annual financial reports public, he said.
The ministry’s plans have attracted attention because of the potential impact of the new regulations on the National Women’s League and China Youth Corps, which have faced criticism for opaque finances amid allegations that they unfairly benefited from government patronage under the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) authoritarian rule.
When asked whether the ministry plans to use its jurisdiction over the two organizations in line with the government’s move to promote transitional justice, Yeh said that more time and coordination were needed because the matter needed to be handled cautiously.
Yeh also promised to incorporate climate change in land planning and flood prevention plans.
The ministry will also work to help the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China (Taiwan) play its full role as a bridge to the international community, he said.
“Given that we face a situation in which our participation in the international community is inadequate, the Red Cross is an extremely important mechanism linking us to the international community,” he said.
He added that the ministry would respect any legislative decision to abolish the Red Cross Society Act of the Republic of China (中華民國紅十字會法).
Policy negotiations between the Legislative Yuan and Executive Yuan earlier this week ended in a decision to abolish the law.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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