Chapter II The establishment and the issuance of licenses of tourist amusement enterprises
Article 6
The tourist amusement facilities operated by tourist amusement enterprises shall be consistent with the rules stipulated in Regional Planning Law, Urban Planning Law, and other related laws and regulations. Such operations shall be confined to those business projects approved by the administrative authorities.
Article 7
A project shall be eligible to apply for establishment as a tourist amusement enterprise only if it occupies an area of at least two hectares. However, in cases to which other laws or regulations apply, or where a special municipality, county or city government otherwise decrees in accordance with its autonomous powers, those other applicable regulations shall be observed.
The administrative authority for applications to establish tourist amusement enterprises shall be divided as follows:
(1) For major investment projects, the application shall be filed with the MOTC for approval and license issuance.
(2) For non-major investment projects, the application shall be filed with the local administrative authority for approval and license issuance.
Article 9
To establish a tourist amusement enterprise, the operator shall prepare the documents listed below for filing with the administrative authority. Where it is necessary to apply the provisions of Article 47 of the Statute, the application may be made at the same time, and after establishment has been approved, filed with the MOTC for approval.
1. Completed application form for establishing a tourist amusement enterprise.
2. List of founders or list of directors and supervisors.
3. Corporate constitution or record of founders’ meeting.
4. Plans for new business.
5. Photocopy of land registration certificate, documentary proof of the right to use the land, and certificate of zoning category of the land, issued within the preceding three months.
6. Photocopy of land identification map (the map shall be colored to mark the area of land in the application).
In order to review applications for establishing tourist amusement enterprises, the administrative authorities may set up a review team.
The rules for selecting the members of the aforementioned review team, the format of required documents, and the form of the review proceedings shall be prescribed by the Tourism Administration, MOTC.
Where, prior to the proclamation and coming into effect of these Regulations on January 1, 2003, a plan for the purpose of operating a tourist amusement enterprise has been duly approved according to law but the enterprise has not been approved for operation as required by law, then an application for establishment may be made in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 1 of this Article within two months of the date of the amendment of these Regulations coming into effect on July 25, 2014, with exemption from the requirement to submit plans for new business; if no application for establishment is submitted within the said time limit, the original business plan approval will be rendered null and void, and plans for new business shall be required to be submitted anew for an application for establishment to be made under the provisions of Paragraph 1 herein.
Article 10
After receiving the application for establishing a tourist amusement enterprise, the administrative authority shall reach a conclusion of its review within sixty days and shall notify the applicant of the result, a copy of which shall be sent to related administrative authorities. On special occasions wherein the review period must be extended, the extension shall be no longer than fifty days, and the applicant shall be notified about the extension.
Should the necessity to submit any missing material or to correct any information in the documents arise for the aforementioned review to proceed, the applicant shall be so notified and asked to complete the procedure by a set date, and the time needed for the rectification shall not count as part of the review period as described in the previous paragraph. Should the applicant fail to make the rectification before the deadline or the rectification be incomplete, the application shall be dismissed.
Prior to the deadline referred to in the preceding paragraph, the applicant may, with explanation of reason, apply for an extension of the deadline or withdrawal of the case, and if before the deadline no application for extension or withdrawal is made or no sufficient reason for extension is given, the application shall be rejected by the administrative authority.
Article 11
After the application for establishment of a tourist amusement enterprise is approved, in case the enterprise is required by law to complete the procedure for changing the registration of land usage, making evaluation of environmental impact, or executing and maintaining soil and water conservancy, the applicant shall file his application for the procedure with the administrative authorities within one year after the approval of establishment, in accordance with Regional Planning Law, Urban Planning Law, Environment Impact Evaluation Law, Soil and Water Conservancy Law and other related laws and regulations. Failure to apply within the time limit shall render the approval of establishment null and void. However, in case there is a valid reason for such failure, the applicant may apply for extension with the administrative authority, with reasons stated, before reaching the deadline.
The extension as described in the preceding paragraph shall be made no more than twice, for no more than six months each time. Failure to apply within the time limit shall render the approval of establishment null and void.
Should the application as described in Paragraph 1 be determined by the competent administrative authority to be an illegitimate proposal for development or the application fail to gain approval, the approval for establishment shall be rendered null and void.
Article 12
An applicant who has followed the stipulations of the preceding article in changing the registration of land usage, making environmental impact evaluation or executing and maintaining soil and water conservancy, having been approved by competent administrative authorities, shall revise the documents related to the establishment of the new enterprise within three months according to the content of the aforementioned applications that are approved. The applicant shall produce a finalized version of the revised documents with which the application for final approval is to be filed with the administrative authority.
Where an applicant is not required by law to follow the process referred to in the preceding paragraph, the administrative authority may simultaneously conduct approval of establishment or assent to the change and approve the finalized version of the business plan.
Article 13
When the establishment of a tourist amusement enterprise has been approved, such enterprise shall complete its corporate registration process in accordance with the law within three months after the finalized version of the revised documents in the new business proposal is approved by the administrative authority. The enterprise shall also submit the following documents to the administrative authority for filing:
1. Documentary proof of corporate registration.
2. List of directors, supervisors and managers.
Should any change in the items of registration described in the previous paragraph arise, the enterprise shall notify the administrative authority within thirty days after the procedure for changing corporate registration is completed.
Article 14
When the establishment of a tourist amusement enterprise has been approved, in the event that there is no need to change the registration of the usage of its land, or to make an environmental impact evaluation, or to execute and maintain soil and water conservancy, or to produce a land preparation and drainage plan; or in the event that the enterprise has received approval from the competent authority for changing land usage registration, making environmental impact evaluation, executing and maintaining soil and water conservancy, or producing a land preparation and drainage plan, or has obtained certification of completion of work, the enterprise shall apply for a construction license to the local construction authority and proceed with construction in accordance with the law within one year. Failure to carry out construction in accordance with the law within the time limit shall render the approval of establishment null and void.
Regarding the period described in the previous paragraph, should there be valid reason, the enterprise may file an application for extension with the administrative authority before the original deadline expires, giving an explanation of the reason. Extension shall be granted no more than twice, with each extension not to exceed one year. Failure to commence construction in accordance with the law before the time limit expires shall render the approval of establishment null and void.
Article 15
A tourist amusement enterprise shall execute construction in accordance with its business plan as approved; and, where the original business plan is changed before or during construction, shall produce the changed plan drawings and related documents for submission to the competent authority for approval.
The format of the changed plan drawings and related documents as referred to in the preceding paragraph, and the procedural mode of review, shall be separately prescribed by the Tourism Administration, MOTC. Should the scale of establishment after the change match the conditions stipulated in Article4-1, it shall be referred to the Tourism Administration, MOTC for approval.
The provisions of the preceding two paragraphs shall apply, mutatis mutandis, where a tourist amusement enterprise changes its original business plan after commencing operation.
After the development timeframe for the business plan is approved, changes to the plan shall be granted no more than twice. However, according to the stipulation in Paragraph 1 and 2, Article 17 of the Statute, this does not apply to those who have been issued a tourist amusement enterprise operating license.
Article 15-1
In any of the situations listed below, the approval of a tourist amusement enterprise business plan and the enterprise's original establishment approval shall be rendered null and void:
1. Where construction has not been carried out in accordance with the approved plan, and the competent authority having set a time limit of one year for submission of an application to change the business plan, no such application or request for extension has been submitted within the time limit, or the application has been rejected by the competent authority. A request for extension of the time limit shall state the reason why the application cannot be made within the time limit. such extension may not exceed one year at a time, and may be granted no more than two times.
2. The development permit issued by the local land administration authority is invalid.
3. Failure to complete the development and obtain a tourist amusement enterprise license within the development timeframe of the business plan as approved.
In a situation as stipulated in Subparagraph 1 of the preceding paragraph, where the change involves expansion of the area for which the application for establishment was made, only the approval for such changed part of the business plan shall be rendered null and void.
Article 15-2
Where a tourist amusement enterprise, having received approval of establishment or approval of its business plan, starts operation before receiving its tourist amusement enterprise operating license, the administrative authority shall set a time limit for rectification. If rectification is not made within the time limit, the administrative authority shall invalidate the approval of the tourist amusement enterprise’s establishment and the approval of business plan.
Article 16
When the ownership of a tourist amusement enterprise is transferred to a different party before or during the construction phase, the enterprise shall produce the following documents which are to be filed with the administrative authority together with the application for approval:
1. A photocopy of the contract.
2. The minutes of the original enterprise’s shareholder meeting or written agreement of the shareholders.
3. Operation and management plan submitted by the transferee of ownership.
4. Other related documents.
Apart from the situations referred to in the preceding paragraph, where the company that originally applied to establish a tourist amusement enterprise is dissolved or has its company registration cancelled or terminated before or during construction, the approval of establishment and approval of business plan shall be rendered null and void.
Article 17
After the construction of the tourist amusement enterprise, the enterprise shall produce the following documents to apply for joint inspection by the administrative authority and the other competent authorities. The enterprise may start its operation only after passing the joint inspection and obtaining a tourist amusement enterprise operating license:
1. Completed application form for tourist amusement enterprise operating license.
2. Photocopies of the documents for approval of establishment and approval of business plan.
3. A photocopy of the building-use license or photocopies of other documents proving compliance with the law.
4. A cadastral overlay map of the tourist amusement facilities, and documentary proof that the tourist amusement facilities have passed safety inspection.
5. A photocopy of the liability insurance contract.
6. Documentary proof of corporate registration.
7. Table of basic information of the tourist amusement enterprise.
In the case that the new business project is designed to be completed in separate phases or areas, the enterprise may apply for inspection in accordance with the preceding paragraph after each of the phases or areas is completed. Each completed phase or area of the facilities may commence operation once it has passed inspection and found to be in compliance with regulations, and a tourist amusement enterprise operating license has been issued for it.
When issuing a tourist amusement enterprise operating license, the local administrative authority shall provide a copy of such license to the Tourism Administration, MOTC.