By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterMembers of the Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee yesterday called for a single agency to coordinate the regulation of industrial chemicals, a task that is now split between nine agencies. The committee required governmental agencies to report at yesterday’s meeting on the management and inspection of chemicals. Once draft amendments to the Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act (毒性化學物質管理法) are passed, the Cabinet will establish a national board for chemical management, coordinated by his agency, Environmental Protection Administration Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) told lawmakers. The Chin-Poon fire highlighted the division among agencies, given each seems to do its own job without sharing information with the others, KMT Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏) said. “The National Fire Agency is considering conducting joint inspections with the ministry,” agency Director-General Chen Wen-lung (陳文龍) said, adding it would ask companies and factories to provide firefighters on duty with floor plans detailing the storage locations of chemicals.

Source: Taipei Times May 14, 2018 15:56 UTC