The Regulations are stipulated and issued under Paragraph 4 of Article 4 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”).

The mission of the Advisory Committee in Food Testing Methods (hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”) is to perform consultation and recommendation on food testing methods for foods, food additives, food utensils, food containers or packaging and food cleansers prescribed in Article 38 of the Act.

The Committee is made up of 15～19 members as appointed by the Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (hereinafter referred to as the “Minister”), which consists of scholars and experts specializing in food science, analytical chemistry, molecular biology and microbiology.
With regard to the members of the Committee in the preceding paragraph, the quorum of either gender shall not be less than one-third of the total number of its members.
The Committee must include a convener and a vice-convener, as appointed by the Minister.
A member of the Committee will be appointed for a term of 3 years, with eligibility for reappointment. Those members who are unable to complete the term prescribed above for whatever reasons may be additionally appointed as adjunct members, which the term of the successor will be ended as the term of its predecessor.

The affairs and tasks of the Committee shall be performed by the executive secretary and designated workers as appointed by the Minister from the personnel of the Food and Drug Administration (hereinafter referred to as the “FDA”).

A meeting of the Committee shall generally be held at least four times annually, and an interim meeting may be convened as deemed necessary. The meeting requires the attendance of at least half of the members in order to commence.

The convener shall be the chairperson, and the vice-convener may be the acting chairperson if the convener fails to attend the meeting. When both convener and vice-convener fail to attend the meeting, the convener may designate one of members as the chairperson, or in a situation where the convener is unable to designate, the chairperson may be elected by all attending members.

The Administrative Procedure Act shall apply to the avoidance affairs for the members of the Committee.

The meeting may, when necessary, invite guest delegation of experts, scholars as well as representatives of agencies and authorities of the FDA to attend.

The members and participants attending the meetings shall not disclose any information about the meeting minutes, members’ opinion as shared, or any remarks concluded, in any means pursuant to the duty of confidentiality.
Any information related to the meeting as mentioned in the preceding paragraph may only be made available to the public after being approved by the FDA under administrative procedures.

The Regulations shall be implemented on the date of promulgation.