Farmland justice to stop bleeding! The sunset clause is added to the third reading of the Labor Assistance Law, and the illegal factory of agricultural land has not been registered for 20 years and has to leave.

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The Legislative Yuan finally passed the draft amendment to some of the provisions of the Factory Management guidance Law, which is related to the management of agricultural factories. It is determined that the "sunset clause" will be set up. The illegal factory before 105-520 will have to complete the procedures of management, improvement, payment of guidance, registration and land change within 20 years. If the factory cannot be completed, the factory shall not continue to operate. The illegal factories added after 520 in 105 need to be forcibly demolished. In view of the dilemma that the central government could not control because of the inaction of the local government in the past, the amendment to the Labor and Auxiliary Law also gives the central government the power to cut off water, electricity or demolition in accordance with the law.

Article 28 (5) of the newly amended draft provisions of the Labor Assistance Law stipulates that illegal agricultural land factories with medium and low pollution should apply for management within 2 years after amending the law, propose improvement plans within 3 years, and pay management guidance every year after applying for management. Until registration is obtained, and specific factory registration is required within 10 years, and all legal procedures need to be completed within 20 years. As for factories with medium and high pollution, the Government should provide guidance on restructuring, relocation or closure, and refuse to cooperate with the suspension of power supply, water supply and demolition in accordance with the law.

With regard to this result, lawyer Guo Hongyi, director of the Environmental lawyers Association, said that "although it is not satisfied, it is better than nothing." because of the 10 norms of Article 28 of the Law, illegal factories are legal on the spot in principle, and the exception (medium and high pollution factories) needs to be relocated. The identification of what is meant by "medium and high pollution factories" will become the next decisive battlefield for the protection of agricultural land in the future.

Cai Peihui of the Green Committee: it is not easy to draw this knife, but history has to deal with it.

Tsai Peihui, a legislator of the Democratic Progressive Party, said that if the agricultural land is not treated by illegal factories, and the waste water and air pollution continues to pollute the agricultural land, can it not be treated? This is the common industry of history. The amendment to the Labour Assistance Law provides three knives. First of all, the medium and high pollution will be removed or the factory will be shut down. If the local authorities do not do it, the central government can cut off water and electricity. Low-grade polluters need to deal with industrial safety, environmental safety and other problems, comply with the standards in order to obtain a specific factory registration certificate, 10 years after obtaining the registration certificate, it can be truly legal.

Tsai said that at present, it is not only a struggle between workers and farmers, but also a "struggle between workers and workers," meaning that legitimate manufacturers have to pay high costs to operate, but illegal factories can operate at low costs because of violations of the law, resulting in unfair competition among industries. Cai Peihui said, "this law is not simple, and it is not easy to draw this knife."

The boss of legitimate manufacturers said that the Labor Assistance Law allows illegal factories to be legal on the spot, which means that legitimate factories cannot survive, and if passed, the water party caucus will be sanctioned with votes. (photo source / Earth Citizen Foundation)

"Citizen Litigation" is not included, ring regiment: the existing reporting mechanism is virtually non-existent.

Wu Huijun, Executive Secretary of the Changhua Environmental Protection Alliance, pointed out that since 2017, the Changhua Environmental Protection Alliance and civic groups have reported 29 new illegal construction of agricultural land factories, and we have repeatedly issued documents demanding that they be carried out and demolished, but due to the negligence and indulgence of the local government, none of them were demolished. During this period, we continue to receive complaints from the public about the new illegal construction of agricultural land factories, and so far there have been 9 new cases, that is, because the government agencies are lazy and do not enforce the law, the illegal factories will be built and covered unscrupulously because of the inaction of government organs.

Civic groups have repeatedly demanded that the Labor Assistance Law be included in "citizen litigation", allowing residents and civic groups around illegal factories to ask local governments to actively enforce the law through judicial relief. Wang Meihua, vice minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, believes that there is already a reporting mechanism and there is no need to add "citizen litigation," but the ring delegation said that the reporting mechanism at this stage is basically empty, and expresses strong regret that "citizen litigation" has not been included.