The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed the Statute of Funeral and Interment Management, introducing the first-ever government regulations for the funeral-service industry.
The statute, which was submitted by both the Ministry of the Interior and KMT Legislator Chiang Yi-wen (
"The statute's enactment will help manage funeral-service operators, funeral supplies and the quality of service provided by the operators," the ministry stated in a press release.
According to the ministry, an average of 120,000 Taiwanese die every year and the funeral-service industry has annual revenues of about NT$50 billion. But the industry has until yesterday been left unregulated, a situation which has resulted in operators charging arbitrary fees and gangsters monopolizing the market.
Under the new rules, companies involved in funeral services would be required to apply for approval to operate from local governments. The prices for the numerous of services they provide would also have to be publicized. Funeral servicepersons would also be required to pass national-level tests for certification.
The regulation also aims to promote unconventional forms of interment such as sea burial and tree burial in an effort to deal with environmental and land availability concerns.
The regulation, meanwhile, states that any individual who wants to hold a funeral service that would occupy sidewalk space -- the most popular way to hold funeral services -- would be required to receive permission from their local police stations.
Each family holding a funeral service would be allowed to occupy sidewalks for a maximum of two days.
The regulation attempts to deal with funeral services occupying sidewalks for more than a week and cause traffic jams.
Regarding complaints of operators causing problems during disasters by attending to bodies without the consent of the victims' relatives and charging unreasonable prices, the new statute forbids undertakers from attending to corpses at the scenes of accidents without approval from the victims' families.
Victims' families will not be liable for the fees of undertakers who provide services without first obtaining such approval.
The problems caused by funeral-service operators showing up at accident scenes have upset many families in the past.
During yesterday's third and final reading of the bill, KMT Legislator Yu Yueh-hsia (
The ministry had pushed for the statute's passage for more than two years. It was submitted to the Legislative Yuan during the last legislative session but was delayed beyond the end of that session.
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