統計法

This Act is enacted to enhance the efficiency of operation of government statistics, ensure the objectivity and independence of government statistics, and uphold the quality of government statistics.

The statistical affairs of government shall be carried out in accordance with this Act. However, survey conducted specifically for intentionality and statistics conducted for academic research by an agency are not included.

1The terms used in this Act are defined as follows:

21.Agencies: all levels of government agencies (organizations), public schools and state-owned enterprises.

32.BAS (Budget, Accounting and Statistics) Agencies at all levels of government: the Central BAS Agency in the central government. For local governments it refers the BAS departments in the special municipal governments, the BAS departments in the counties(cities) governments, the BAS offices or the BAS personnel in the townships(cities) offices or in the mountain indigenous districts of special municipalities.

43.Administrative statistics: the statistics obtained from processes and results of the official duties that are carried out by agencies.

54.Statistical survey: the survey on individuals, households, business entities, agencies or groups held by the agencies for statistical purpose and operational requirements, including the Basic National Census and Survey, Designated Statistical Survey and General Statistical Survey.

65.The Basic National Census and Survey: the census and survey of the national population, land, resources, economy, society, and other categories that may represent the basic conditions of entire nation.

76.Designated Statistical Survey: the survey published by the Central BAS Agency as required for preparing critical statistics or significant policies of the government. The requirement of critical statistics or significant policies of the government means the fundamental data serving as necessary reference for formulating such policies, statistics recommended by international organizations or critical for international comparison, or other statistical surveys identified by the Central BAS Agency.

1The government shall collect and compile statistics as follows:

21.The statistics of the Basic National Census and Surveys.

32.The statistics of official functions performed by the agencies.

43.Other statistics that shall be collected and compiled by agencies.

5The data sources of statistics mentioned in the preceding Paragraph are as follows:

61.Administrative records or reports.

72.Statistical surveys.

83.Relevant data of other agencies or groups.

1Government statistics are to be collected and compiled by the competent government agency, or in accordance with the rules as follows:

21.The Basic National Census and Surveys are to be conducted by the Central BAS Agency.

32.Government statistics not exclusively related to any government agency are to be collected and compiled by the relevant government agency (organization) based on the coordination conducted by the BAS Agencies at all levels of government.

4The central government may commission local governments to conduct statistical surveys.

1The Central BAS Agency shall draft the scheme on the division of the scope of statistics among all levels of government and among of the central government agencies, and then submit the scheme to the Executive Yuan for approval.

2Any amendment to the scheme mentioned in the preceding Paragraph that does not affect the basic principles may be implemented directly by the Central BAS Agency after consulting with relevant government agencies.

3For local governments based on the scheme mentioned in the Paragraph 1, the BAS Agencies may divide the scope of statistics of their own government and that of their subordinate agencies.

Agencies shall fully use the data mentioned in the Subparagraph 1 of Paragraph 2 of Article 4 to compile the administrative statistics.

The compilation for administrative statistics for any government agencies shall be jointly carried out by their BAS units in charge of statistical affairs and related persons from other internal units of the said agency.

Agencies shall formulate administrative statistics schemes according to the nature and the needs of their official duties within the scope of statistics stipulated by the scheme in Article 6.

The Central BAS Agency shall conduct the Basic National Census and Surveys, including the Population and Housing Census at least once every ten years, as well as the Agriculture, Forestry, Fishery and Animal Husbandry Census and the Industry and Service Census at least once every five years.

1The Central BAS Agency shall draft the survey scheme for conducting the Basic National Census and Survey and submit it to the Executive Yuan for approval. All levels of government may set up provisional units to conduct the affairs in question together.

2The Central BAS Agency may request relevant agencies to provide necessary assistance or officers on secondment as required under its supervision and direction to conduct the survey mentioned in the preceding Paragraph.

1Agencies shall only conduct the Designated Statistical Survey or General Statistical Survey that are directly related to their duties and out of urgency; no surveys shall be conducted under any of the following circumstances:

21.The information required can be obtained from the data mentioned in Subparagraph 1 of Paragraph 2 of Article 4.

32.The survey can be incorporated into other similar surveys.

1Agencies shall draft the survey implementation programs before conducting the Designated Statistical Survey or General Statistical Survey on the general public that reach or surpass the certain sample size specified by the Central BAS Agency, and do as follows:

21.The Designated Statistical Survey shall be approved by the Central BAS Agency.

32.The General Statistical Survey conducted by the central government shall be approved by the Central BAS Agency; while surveys conducted by the local governments shall be approved by the BAS department in the special municipal government and in the county /city government, and then submit to the Central BAS Agency for recordation.

4For the statistical survey approved pursuant to the preceding Paragraph, the conducting agency shall mark the approval issue number on its questionnaire.

5Any modification or suspension of the approved statistical survey implementation program shall be submitted for approval pursuant to Paragraph 1; when necessary, the approving agency or the Central BAS Agency may request the conducting agency to modify the survey implementation program or suspend an approved statistical survey.

1When conducting statistical surveys, the enumerators must present the certificate for identification and shall proactively inform the respondents the ways of verification and give them the opportunities for verification as well.

2The enumerators mentioned in the preceding Paragraph must not collect unauthorized data in the guise of performing duties.

3It is prohibited for anyone to evade, obstruct or refuse the enumerators conducting the Basic National Census and Survey or Designated Statistical Survey.

The respondent of the statistical survey, whether an individual, a household, a business entity, an agency or a group, has the duty to provide truthful information in due time.

1The statistics released by agencies shall be confined to only the associated scope with their competent official functions.

2Agencies shall announce the statistics release calendar in advance, which must not be altered except for critical circumstances. The regulations in this regard shall be formulated by the Central BAS Agency.

1In order to fully utilize the administrative data-processing (ADP) system to conduct government statistics, any agencies shall consult with their BAS units in charge of statistical affairs regarding their needs when constructing or modifying the ADP system.

2If constructing or modifying the ADP system involves the affairs of local governments, the central government agencies shall consult with the BAS agencies and relevant agencies of the local government regarding their needs.

3Out of the overall statistics needs, BAS agencies at all levels of government may request their government agencies and the subordinate agencies under said government agency to cooperate on adding or modifying the data categories or relevant functions in the ADP system.

BAS Agencies at all levels of government, and first-level BAS Units in charge of statistical affairs in the central government may request their government agencies and the subordinate agencies to provide the data mentioned in Subparagraphs 1 and 2 of Paragraph 2 of Article 4 for statistical purposes or to reduce the burden on respondents, except for data provision prohibited by the clauses in the Classified National Security Information Protection Act and other specified laws or regulations.

1Agencies must properly keep and fully use relevant statistical documents and data to carry out official functions.

2The documents and data mentioned in the preceding Paragraph, if pertaining to individual information obtained through statistical surveys, shall be kept confidentially and not be used for any purpose other than statistics, unless the respondent has given a written consent during the implementation period of that statistical survey.

1BAS Agencies at all levels of government shall carry out statistical affairs under the supervision and direction of BAS Agencies of their superior government agencies.

2BAS units in charge of statistical affairs of agencies shall carry out statistical affairs under the supervision and direction of superior BAS units in charge of statistical affairs or the BAS Agencies of their government.

Any different opinions on statistical affairs between the chief statistician and the chief officer shall be arbitrated with by the chief officer and chief statistician of the superior government agency.

1BAS agencies at all levels of government may audit and re-examine statistical affairs of the subordinate agencies of their government.

2The Central BAS Agency may audit and re-examine the statistical affairs of local governments.

Anyone who violates Paragraph 3 of Article 14 by evading, obstructing or refusing the enumerators who carry out the Basic National Census and Survey or Designated Statistical Survey, after persuasion to no avail, shall be dealt with in accordance with the Administrative Execution Act.

Any respondent of the Basic National Census and Survey or Designated Statistical Survey who violates Article 15, after persuasion and still fails to respond in due time or gives false answers, shall be dealt with in accordance with the Administrative Execution Act.

Any staff member conducting statistical affairs for agencies in violation of Paragraph 2 of Article 14 or Article 19 shall be dealt with in accordance with relevant laws.

The enforcement rules of this Act shall be prescribed by the Central BAS Agency.

This Act shall come into force from the date of promulgation.