Fair Trade Commission Disposal Directions (Guidelines) on Handling Public Petitions

Passed by the 473rd Commissioners' Meeting on November 30, 2000
Circulated by Letter (89) Kung Chi Tzu No. 04088 of December 12, 2000
Passed by the 531st Commissioners' Meeting on January 10, 2002
Promulgated by Order Kung Chi Tzu No. 0910001370 of February 8, 2002

1. The Fair Trade Commission of the Executive Yuan (hereinafter the FTC) has enacted the Fair Trade Commission Guidelines on Handling Public Petitions (hereinafter the Guidelines) pursuant to Article 170, Paragraph 1 of the Administrative Procedure Act to effectively handle the petitions from the public and enhance the public services. Matters that are not provided for in the Guidelines shall be governed by the Regulations for the Handling of Public Petitions by Subordinate Agencies of the Executive Yuan and relevant laws and regulations.
2. The term "public petitions" referred to in the Guidelines shall mean the specific petitions made in writing or verbal statements that are submitted to the FTC by the public with regard to the improvement of government administration, inquiries of administrative laws and regulations, reports of administrative violations or negligence, or requests for protection of administrative rights and interests. The following types of petitions, however, are excluded from the definition of public petitions set forth herein:
   (1) complaints, in which the public reports a violation of the Fair Trade Law to the FTC;
   (2) interpretation requests, which are the cases set forth in the Fair Trade Commission Guidelines on Handling Interpretation Requests;
   (3) filings, which are required in Article 11 of the Fair Trade Law;
   (4) applications, which are the applications for approval prescribed in Article 14 of the Fair Trade Law; and
   (5) filings for records, which are prescribed in Article 23-4 of the Fair Trade Law.
3. The public petitions shall be accepted by the FTC in the following methods:
   (1) Written petitions:
   Petitions that are submitted by the public in writing, including electronic mail, facsimiles, and other administrative referrals, shall be given a document receipt number and filed by the Secretariat Mail Room. Personnel at the Mail Room shall stamp the words "Public Petition" in red on the upper right corner of the petition document and deliver the petition to the applicable office for handling (the format of the stamp is shown in the attachment hereto).
   (2) Verbal petitions:
   With regard to petitions that are submitted by the public in verbal statements, the office or the service center that receives the petitioner shall collect relevant information when listening to said statements, complete the FTC Form of Public Opinions, the format of which is shown in Table I attached hereto, and deliver same to the Secretariat Mail Room after signing or sealing the form for the Mail Room to give a document receipt number and file the document. The words "Public Petition" shall be stamped in red on the upper right corner of the document prior to the delivery for handling.
   (3) When an office receives and finds that a case is a public petition in nature but is not so categorized or that a case is not a public petition in nature but is so categorized, the office shall make a request to the Secretariat Mail Room to change the document category and handle the case by means corresponding to its nature.
4. All offices shall process a public petition in a legal, accurate, and timely manner.
5. Personnel of all offices when receives or hears a public petition shall draft a specific opinion report for review and confirmation within seven days. The handling process shall not last for more than thirty days. Upon conclusion of a petition, a "Public Petition Conclusion Form (see Table II attached hereto)" shall be completed and submitted to the Department of Planning.
6. The FTC handling procedure of public petitions should be as follows:
   (1) After a public petition is accepted by an office, the office shall file the petition documents or records and other relevant information, submit same to respective levels for review and confirmation, and reply to the petitioner in the form of official letter or electronic mail or by other means depending on the circumstances.
   (2) When replying to the petitioner of a public petition, the response shall include specific opinions on the handling and the legal basis with regard to the contents of the petition in simple, clear, and affirmative language. In the event that a relevant agency is involved, such agency shall also be carbon copied.
   (3) In the event of a simple petition which can be replied by telephone, a "Public Petition Telephone Response Review and Confirmation Form (see Table III attached hereto)" shall be completed and submitted to the unit supervisor for approval before the response is made via telephone.
   (4) When handling a public petition, offices may request for an interview with the petitioner, hold a hearing, or dispatch personnel to conduct field investigation if necessary.
   (5) If it is necessary to keep a public petition confidential, the FTC rules of confidentiality shall apply.
   (6) In the event that a public petition falls outside the scope of FTC authority and duties, the petition shall be directly removed to the competent authority for handling with a notification to the petitioner. In the event that a public petition involves the authority and duties of another agency, the FTC shall initiatively assist this relevant agency in handling the petition.
   (7) Where the public submits a petition pursuant to an administrative appeal, litigation, request for state compensation, or matters provided in other legal procedures in accordance with the law, the petitioner shall be notified or the petition shall be directly removed to the competent authority with a notification to the petitioner.
   (8) In the event that a public petition is being investigated by the judiciary or subject to pending litigation, administrative remedy, final decision, or other concluded legal remedial procedures, the petitioner shall be informed to follow the original legal procedure.
   (9) Where a public petition may not be concluded within the prescribed period, the handling personnel shall obtain an approval of extension from the supervisor of first level prior to the expiration of the prescribed period and notify the petitioner of the reasons of such extension in writing.
7. In the event that a public petition is subject to any of the following circumstances, the petition may be rejected for handling upon the review and confirmation of each level according to their respective authority and duties:
   (1) where the petition contains no specific contents, name, and address;
   (2) where the petition is based upon a same cause of action which has been previously handled in a proper manner and for which a clear response has been made in another petition;
   (3) where the name, address, contact phone number, or email address provided in the petition is found to be false, anonymous, or untrue;
   (4) where a competent authority that does not govern the petition learns that the petitioner has submitted a petition for the same cause of action to each competent authority.
   In the event of subparagraph 2 of the preceding paragraph where the petitioner makes duplicate petitions to the FTC, the FTC may notify the petitioner, in writing, of the reply date and document number before concluding the case.
8. All offices shall file the public petitions under the category of "Case."
9. All offices shall monitor the handling of public petitions in accordance with the "FTC Guidelines on Document Monitoring."
10. The Department of Planning shall publish monthly statistics showing the handling of public petitions for review and confirmation.
11. All offices shall, within ten days after the conclusion of each quarter, analyze the nature of issues involved in the public petitions, categories, and handling results and submit same to the Department of Planning for compilation. Said compilation will serve as a reference for review and improvement at the operation meeting.
12. The FTC may award those who have excellent performance in handling public petitions. Those who violate the Guidelines shall be subject to disciplinary actions in accordance with relevant rules depending on the degree of violation.