Honest management and law compliance are key elements of sustainable development of enterprises, and also a key to the enhancement of the competitiveness of the industry and the whole country. To propagate the policy of “Compulsory Traceability and Login of the Domestic Tea Industry” to be implemented as of January 1, 2023, the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan held the “Forum for Convenience on Business Integrity Exchanges and Tea Traceability Law Compliance” on December 27, 2022. The Ministry of Justice was invited to participate jointly advocating the concept of integrity and law compliance, creating opportunities for cooperation between the public sector and the private sector, and building a partnership between the government and the people to fight against corruption.

The forum kicked off with speeches addressed by Tsai Pi-chung, Deputy Director of Political Affairs of the Ministry of Justice, and Chen Chi-chung, Minister of the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, with Representatives from public and private sectors, including Chuang Jung-sung, Director-General of the Agency Against Corruption, Tseng Wen-chung, Prosecutor of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office, Hu Chung-yi, Director-General of the Agriculture and Food Agency Council of Agriculture, Su Tsung-chen, Director of the Tea Industry Improvement Field, and Kao Hsiu-cheng, President of the Taipei Tea Trade Association and other representatives from both the public sector and the private sector being invited to the oath ceremony to convey the determination to deepen corporate integrity. Subsequently, Su Teng-chao, Deputy Chief of the Agriculture and Food Agency Council of Agriculture, Chou Wen-yug, Chairman of Good Young Co., Ltd., and Prosecutor Tseng Wen-chun delivered keynote speeches on relevant topics respectively.

Tsai Pi-chung, Deputy Director of Political Affairs of the Ministry of Justice, said in the speech that the theme of the forum was “Compulsory Traceability and Login of the Domestic Tea Industry,” which will be implemented from next year. The public power is limited, while the power of people is infinite. A key spirit behind the sustainable management of enterprises is integrity governance, which implies the positive value of social responsibility. Through transparency and integrity and legal compliance, a company can strengthen its governance and pay attention to its social responsibility, and establish a positive cycle of giving back to society. In recent years, the Ministry of Justice and the Agency Against Corruption have been actively promoting and advocating the values of “enterprise integrity”, “legal compliance” in collaboration with various competent authorities in different industries. Meanwhile, the Council of Agriculture has been promoting the production and marketing record system for agricultural products, covering concepts such as “honest labeling” and “information transparency.” The exchange of views at the forum has helped build consensus on integrity governance in both the public sector and the private sector, allowed government authorities to understand the problems and needs of enterprises, and provided measures to streamline administration and facilitate the people. It also proposed the value of integrity to the enterprises and implement traceability labeling.

According to Chen Chi-chung, Minister of the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, “Enterprise Integrity Management” must be supported by the agriculture, forestry, water and livestock industries. The Council of Agriculture promotes the production and marketing record system for agricultural products, with the safety and traceability of agricultural products, the sustainability of the agricultural environment, openness and transparency of information as the core values, so as to guide operators of agricultural products to abide by relevant regulations. It is hoped to achieve multiple policy objectives, such as consumer rights protection, maintenance of a sustainable agricultural environment, agricultural product marketing and sales, and food risk management, and thus promote the compulsory traceability system for domestic tea and prevent tea counterfeiting through origin identification technology, so as to establish an upstream and downstream cooperation mode with mutual benefits for a win-win situation.

Subsequently, Chen Chun-chi, Deputy Minister of the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan, presided over the discussion, with Shen Feng-liang, Deputy Director-General of the Agency Against Corruption of the Ministry of Justice, Lin Chin-fu, Deputy Director-General of the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Prosecutor Tseng Wen-chung, Deputy Chief Su Teng-chao, Chairman Chou Wen-yu and other representatives from both the public sector and the private sector, engaged in cross-domain discussions from different perspectives, under the theme “Tea Traceability Law Compliance to Facilitate the People.”.

Through face-to-face communication, with the consensus of all walks of life to implement “enterprise integrity” and “tea traceability policy,” the forum has helped enhance the international competitiveness of Taiwan's tea industry and the overall integrity of Taiwan. In the future, the Agency against Corruption will continue to optimize measures to streamline administration and provide convenience to the public through collaboration between the public sector and the private sector, and help enterprises to promote integrity governance and achieve a win-win situation for the sustainable development of both Taiwan and the industry.