• Department:Comprehensive Planning Division

Food safety is an important issue for the health of the people. Determining how to adopt effective policy measures and ensure that the people of the country can eat safely and without worry is a fundamental duty of the government. One of the important tasks in implementing food safety is source management. Toxic substances and ingredients are traced from the raw material stage of food production. Through integration of chemical substances management information established by government agencies, in accordance with the law and their responsibilities (including certification, declaration, registration and permit systems), we have established a database and method of tracing the flow of raw materials. We hope to keep a close eye on the whole process, right from the start, so that we can help prevent toxic substances from entering into food production and thus avoid health risks to the people of the nation.

Therefore, the Executive Yuan has placed food safety as a priority policy objective, and is formulating the presidential stance on the Promotional Policies for the Five Segments of Food Safety. Among these was "control and management of sources and establishment of a toxic substance administrative body". The purpose is to upgrade the level of the administering organization, and to establish a comprehensive management structure within the current institutional organization. Such a body will prevent and control food safety risks, and trace harmful substances, from the source. The Environmental Protection Administration of the Executive Yuan set up a third level central organ, the Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau (TCSB). The Organizational Act for the TCSB was promulgated by the President on December 23, 2016, and approved by the Executive Yuan for implementation on December 28, 2016; according to the Act, the TCSB's purpose is to implement source control and audits of toxic and chemical substances, and to protect the health of the people of the nation.