To strengthen the cooperation in transportation safety investigations between Taiwan and Australia, on 2 April, 2024, represented by Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Australia, Douglas Yu-tien Hsu, under the virtual witness of Shinn-der Lin, the Chairperson of the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB), and Robert Fergusson, the representative of the Australian Office (AO) in Taiwan, signed the Taiwan-Australia "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Transport Safety and Information Exchange." This agreement expands the scope of cooperation in transportation occurrence investigation between Taiwan and Australia, marking a new chapter in the transportation safety cooperation between the two countries.
The signing ceremony of the memorandum was conducted both in person and via video conference. In addition to Chairperson Lin and Mr. Pei-Da Lin, Managing Director of the TTSB participating via video conference, the other parties jointly participated/witnessed the signing of the memorandum in Canberra, Australia.
The cooperation in transportation safety between Taiwan and Australia has a long history. As early as May 25, 1998, when the predecessor of the TTSB, the Aviation Safety Council (ASC) was established, it set up a channel of communication with the predecessor of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASi), and for the first time, representatives of TECO in Australia and AO in Taiwan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Taiwan-Australia Aviation Safety Cooperation. On August 1, 2019, with the establishment of the TTSB, its mission expanded from aviation occurrence investigation to include investigation of maritime, rail, and highway accidents. Consequently, the understanding memorandum with the ATSB was renewed to expand the scope of cooperation to include major maritime and rail transport accident investigation under their joint jurisdiction, establishing a more comprehensive exchange mechanism for transportation safety cooperation between Taiwan and Australia.
In his notes, TTSB Chairperson Lin stated that although Taiwan is unable to participate in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as a formal member or observer, it conducts occurrence investigations in accordance with international standards, aligning with the global community. Through the signing of this MOU, it is hoped that future close cooperation and exchange on various transportation safety topics with the ATSB will continue.
