TAIPEI: A fishing crew cooperation agreement to be signed across the Taiwan Straits soon will not touch on issues concerning waters under the effective control of either side, according to government sources.

"As the fishery pact will be one of four agreements to be signed under an institutionalized cross-Straits dialogue mechanism, it is unlikely to address any issues concerning the boundary of effective control over the Taiwan Straits because doing so would be incompatible with its purpose," said Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan at a news briefing Tuesday.

The top cross-Straits negotiators from both sides - Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman P.K. Chiang and Chen Yunlin, president of the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) - are scheduled to meet in central Taiwan's Taichung City in mid-December for their fourth round of regular talks that began last year.

During their meeting, Chiang and Chen are expected to sign four agreements on fishing crew cooperation, avoidance of double taxation, cooperation in industrial product certification, and farm produce inspection and quarantine.

Noting that the soon-to-be-inked fishing crew pact will be the first formal accord in the field, Lai said the agreement is aimed at better protecting Taiwanese shipowners' rights and interests, as well as the benefits of the mainland fishery workers they employ.

"Although cross-Straits fishing crew cooperation dates back to 16 years ago, the two sides have never struck a formal deal on the issue," Lai noted, adding that the absence of a formal agreement has led to frequent labor-management disputes and even tragic on-board mutinies over the past decade.

Since institutionalized cross-Straits talks resumed in June 2008, Lai went on, the government has been pushing Beijing to sign a formal agreement to better regulate bilateral fishery worker cooperation.

"Under the new agreement, our fishing boat owners will be able to better control the quality of the workers they hire, while the mainland crewmen will also have better leverage to secure fair treatment," Lai explained.

Stressing that the agreement will mainly deal with technical issues, Lai said its provisions will not touch on any sensitive issues regarding overlaps of the two sides' waters under effective control. It will deal with a joint crackdown on crime in the Taiwan Straits or cooperation in exploring energy resources in the East China Sea.

Speaking on the same occasion, Hu Hsing-hua, deputy chief of the Council of Agriculture, said that once the agreement is signed, each side will designate an intermediary body for direct contact to address common issues.

For the mainland side, Hu continued, it is most concerned about workers' salaries and insurance benefits, while Taiwan cares most about the interests of its shipowners.

"Once the agreement is signed, formally authorized 'parallel organizations' on both sides will be tasked with handling labor-management disputes and other emergencies," Hu said, adding that the intermediary bodies will also tackle labor brokering and management issues.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 11/26/2009 page2)