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In addition, TIPO (The MOEA - Ministry of Economic Affairs' Intellectual Property Office) adopted an Accelerated Examination Programme (AEP) under which applicants may request an accelerated procedure provided that one of the following conditions is met: (i) the application's foreign counterpart has been granted under substantive examination by a foreign patent office; (ii) while the patent has not been granted, the application's foreign counterpart has received an OA (office action) from the EPO, JPO or USPTO during the substantive examination; and (iii) the application is essential to the commercial exploitation of the invention. In January 2014, another condition was added: the technical field involves energy conservation, new energy or new energy vehicles or the invention involves carbon emission reduction or saves natural resources. The purpose is to support investment in R&D and development of green technology. In total, more than 5,000 requests for the AEP were received from 2009 to 2013, with an average pendency to obtain a final decision of 141 days.

According to the COA (Council of Agriculture), the policy objectives are: safeguarding food security, creating an ecological environment, improving farmers' welfare, constructing a culture system that replenishes agricultural resources, and ensuring agriculture's sustainable development. The COA intends to develop scientific agriculture and promote agricultural exports, so as to build agriculture as one part of the global value chain and green industry.

Agricultural products (including processed products) marketed as "organic" must be certified by a certification body accredited by the COA (Council of Agriculture). The certificate is product specific, and valid for three years, renewable. Imported organic agricultural products must be reviewed by the authority before being placed on the market. Foreign certificates of organic agricultural products are accepted for the review process if issued by a certification body accredited by the exporting country and approved by Chinese Taipei. Ingredients of organic agricultural products must come from not less than 95% of organic raw materials, and must be clearly labelled. Imported inputs of organic materials must be labelled with their country of origin, even after they have been substantially transformed within Chinese Taipei.

With the aim of developing a competitive, market-oriented agriculture, the COA (Council of Agriculture) implemented a "Quality Agriculture Development Programme (2009-12)" to promote value added in agriculture. Detailed measures included:

 healthful agriculture: provided training programmes to help farmers to adopt and implement good agricultural practice (GAP) and to participate in the certification of Traceable Agriculture Product (TAP), and Certified Agricultural Standards (CAS) products;

(…); and

 LOHAS (lifestyle of health and sustainability) agriculture: developed agri-tourism and eco-friendly products to create a sustainable environment for rural communities and agriculture-oriented tourism.

Support notified under the Green Box reached a peak in 2009 (NT$44 billion), mainly reflecting an increase in payments for relief from natural disasters (up from NT$3.7 billion in 2008 to NT$11 billion in 2009), and an increase in general services (Chart 4.1). General services have been increasing, to a large extent because of increased expenditures on infrastructure services. Expenditures on environmental programmes remained relatively stable during the review period, and the dominant component - land conservation subsidy - decreased slightly.

Under the "land conservation programme", payments have been given to farmers for maintaining farmland in environmentally good condition by growing green manure crops or setting it aside. According to the authorities, to comply with the WTO Agreements, the amount of payment is lower than the extra costs or loss of income. Under the programme, the COA provided assistance for a total area of 221,679 hectares in 2008, 213,697 hectares in 2009, and 206,467 hectares in 2010.

The set-aside programme encourages farmers to set their marginal land aside with an ecologically sound purpose. Most of the set-aside land was marginal land with low productivity. According to the authorities, it is difficult to lease this kind of land to other farmers and thus it has limited effect on the price (or rent) of farm land. The authorities consider that the set-aside programme contributed to resource conservation and soil productivity restoration.

The "land retirement programme" aims to convert farmland into forestry, to achieve island-wide reforestation. Between 2002 and 2013, more than 13,000 hectares of uncompetitive farmland was converted into forest. These forests have several functions such as timber production, carbon sequestration, clean air, and environmental protection.

Fishing has an important role in the economy, and Chinese Taipei has unique oceanographic traits and biodiversity. In 2012, fishing accounted for 0.7% of GDP and 3% of total employment. Fishery is an exporting sector, accounting for 0.7% of merchandise exports in 2012, equivalent to 29% of combined agriculture, fishing and forestry exports.

In order to avoid overfishing, the FA has been providing grants to fishermen to reduce their fishing capacities (Table 4.7). (…) In September 2002, the government introduced a reward system for closing the fishing season; according to the authorities, the number of fishing vessels participating in this programme has grown gradually, and totalled 9,830 in 2012. In order to improve the social security and welfare of fishermen, the government provides marine insurance subsidies for small-scale and artisanal fishing vessels weighing less than 100 tons.