1. Purpose
To prevent deter, and eliminate illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU)
fishing, the Council of Agriculture (hereinafter referred to as “the
Council”) hereby includes the industry related to distant water fisheries
into the supply chain management by guiding such industry to establish and
implement self-management of fisheries products traceability and auditing
such industry so as to ensure that the catches or fisheries products such
industry processed, transported, stored, purchased and sold, sold as
agents, or exported are not from IUU fishing vessels.
2. Auditing target
The industry related to distant water fisheries approved in accordance with
the Regulations for the Approval and Management of the Exporters of Catches
or Fisheries Products of Distant Water Fisheries.
3. Audit squad unit
The Fisheries Agency of the Council (hereinafter referred to as “the
Fisheries Agency”) shall independently assign personnel or coordinate with
relevant competent authorities to form an audit squad unit. Where
necessary, certified public accountants, logistics specialists and relevant
experts may be commissioned to render assistance.
4. Auditing standards
The standards for auditing the industry related to distant water fisheries
shall include, but not limited to, the following items:
- (1) The industry related to distant water fisheries shall receive
education/training courses on combating IUU fishing, so as to enhance the
knowledge of purchasing and selling catches or fisheries products from
legal sources.
- (2) The industry related to distant water fisheries shall establish and
follow their code of conduct and operating procedures for purchase and sale
of catches or fisheries products as well as operating procedures to deal
with IUU catches or fisheries products detected, so as to ensure that IUU
catches or fisheries products are not purchased or sold.
- (3) The industry related to distant water fisheries shall keep transaction
records and relevant proving documents for at least five years, and ensure
that each batch of catches or fisheries products exported could be traced
at all stages from catching, transshipment, landing, transportation,
processing to selling.
5. Auditing strategy
- (1) The industry related to distant water fisheries shall be approved by
the Council before exporting catches or fisheries products of distant water
fisheries and shall be guided by the Fisheries Agency to establish and
implement the self-management of fisheries products traceability.
- (2) Auditors shall receive the training on specific law and regulations
related to fisheries management so as to audit the above approved industry.
- (3) The Fisheries Agency uses risk assessment method to decide the risk
level of approved industry and the auditing frequency or ratio, whereby the
auditing targets will be prioritized.
- (4) Any approved industry that was audited and found with defect(s) shall
take actions to improve within the specified timeframe. In case that an
approved industry has not improved within the specified timeframe, or the
audit result is below certain rating, its exportation eligibility shall be
revoked.
- (5) The Fisheries Agency may cooperate with the relevant competent
authorities or government of municipality, county and city to conduct
auditing jointly.
6. Auditing procedures
- (1) Documentation review: The Fisheries Agency shall conduct documentation
review on the information declared in the preceding year by the auditee on
catches or fisheries products purchased, sold, and stored, and its internal
audit reports. Where necessary, the Fisheries Agency may order such auditee
to provide, within the specified timeframe, documents and/or information
designated by the Fisheries Agency or related to the traceability of the
catches or fisheries products exported.
- (2) Notification of audit: The Fisheries Agency shall, after the completion
of documentation review, prepare the audit plan and inform the auditee to
cooperate with the audit.
- (3) Field audit: The audit squad unit proceeds to the major operating
location of the auditee to conduct field audit so as to verify whether the
traceability program of fisheries products established by such auditee has
been carried out effectively. The auditing approach may include interview
with or examination for personnel in charge of purchase and sales, random
check on purchase and sales documents and bills, and auditing on financial
statements, detail ledger for purchase and sales payment and revenue, etc.
- (4) Audit result: After the completion of field audit, the Fisheries Agency
shall inform the auditee the result thereof. Representatives of each side
shall confirm the contents of the audit report, and sign thereon. The audit
report is made in two copies, held by each side respectively for
recordkeeping.
- (5) Improvement: The auditee that is rated “B” shall improve the defect(s)
found and submit the improvement report within the specified timeframe. The
Fisheries Agency shall examine the improvement report submitted by the
auditee, and where necessary, it may conduct on-site review. In the event
that the defect(s) still remains, the Fisheries Agency may continue to
require such auditee to improve within the specified timeframe till the
completion of the improvements.
- (6) Disposition: In the event that the auditee rated “B” has not completed
the improvement within the specified timeframe for three times, or the
auditee is rated “C”, the exportation eligibility of such auditee shall be
revoked.
7. Audit threshold and frequency
- (1) For the auditee whose exportation amount was over 10,000 metric tons in
the preceding year, an audit shall be conducted every year. For the auditee
whose exportation amount was over 1,000 metric tons and of 10,000 metric
tons or less in the preceding year, an audit shall be conducted every five
years. For the auditee whose exportation amount was 1,000 metric tons or
less in the preceding year, random audit shall be conducted at the ratio of
5% every year, and the priority shall be given to the auditees categorized
as high or medium level. For any auditee that has not exported any catch or
fisheries product in the preceding year, the audit may be waived.
- (2) For an auditee without any defect after the audit and has been
categorized in the law risk level in the recent three consecutive years, it
may be exempted from the audit for five years starting from the date of the
completion of the most recent audit.
- (3) In the event that the industry related to distant water fisheries
products is reported to be involved in or support the transaction of IUU
fishing activities, or any anomaly appears in relevant catch certificates
applied by such industry, or the points of risk increase, the Fisheries
Agency may conduct the audit at any time.
8. Sanctions
In case that the industry related to distant water fisheries is found with
committing the violations stipulated in subparagraph (2) of paragraph 1,
Article 38; or paragraph 2 of Article 38 of the Act for Distant Water
Fisheries (hereinafter referred to as the “DWFA”) after auditing, the
Council shall impose sanctions in accordance with the DWFA and suspend or
revoke its eligibility to export catches or fisheries products of distant
water fisheries for a certain period.
9. Evaluation and review
Audit reports shall be evaluated by internal experts or external
professional institution in accordance with the auditing purpose and
procedures. The Council may, based on the internal or external evaluation
report, review and amend this strategy plan as appropriate so as to adjust
the priority for audit, adjust the audit criteria and frequency as well as
personnel allocated for audit.