1 WHEREAS, The central mission of National Fire Administration, Ministry ofInterior, ROC is to coordinate and supervise all aspects of dis-asters as Taiwan's national agency responsible for the mitigati-on, preparedness, response and recovery to emergencies such as,but not limited to typhoons, earthquakes, fires and explosions.Its key functions are not only to coordinate all legal aspectsof disasters and national emergencies, but also include the fourroles of prevention, coordination, reccovery and reconstruction.The mission of the State of California Governor's Office of Eme-rgency Services is to mitigate, plan and prepare for, respond toand coordinate recovery from the effects of emergencies and dis-asters that threaten lives, property and the environment. The C-alifornia Governor's OES coodinates local, state and federal ag-encies and non-governmental organizations in response and recov-ery operations following emergencies and disasters. WHEREAS, Both National Fire Administration, Ministry of Interior, ROC andState of California Governor's Office of Emergency Services havean interest in developing long-term relationships that will pro-mote standardized emergency management practices and planning,deploying and/or providing specialized resources like urban sea-rch and rescue teams, medical specialists and other emergency r-esponsc, command, coordination and recovery specialists; Both National Fire Administration, Ministry of Interior, ROC andthe State of California Governor's Officce of Emergency Serviccshave an interest in promoting training opportunities and offeri-ng technical advice and support for the protection of public he-alth, safety and the environment; The State of California governor's Office of Emergency Servicesis a world leader in the emergency management field and in thedevelopment of policies and programs that support the developme-nt of emergency management practices, mitigation activities, all-hazard disaster plans, specialized fire, rescue, medical and h-azardous materials operations, standardizce coordination of dis-aster actions, incident command systems and emergency manangeme-nt and response training. The National Fire Administration, Min-istry of Interior, ROC is also taking a leading role in this ar-ea through the enhancement of emergency management practices andsystems; Both parties agree that cooperation between National Fire Admin-istration, Ministry of Interior, ROC and the State of CaliforniaGovernor's Office of Emergency Services is innovative and wouldassist both Governments in continuing to provide leadership inthe area of emergency management, as well as assist in respondi-ng to and recovering more effectively from disasters that mightstrike. Cooperation between National Fire Administration, Ministry of I-nterior, ROC and State of California Governor's Office of Emerg-ency Services would not duplicate or replace any existing coope-rative agreements with any other governmental agency and/or pri-vate ogranization. THEREFORE, In order to better address Emergency Mangement and disaster res-ponse and recovery/reconstruction concerns from a public healthand safety standpiont, National Fire Administration, Ministry ofInterior, ROC and the State of California Governor's Office ofEmergency Services, agree to undertake the following exchangesand programs: 1.Personnel exchanges to promote mutual understanding and capac-ity building, including official visits, study tours, and tra-ining. Areas to be addressed include, but are not limited to: Emergency management practices, procedures and coordination s-ystems; Fire, Rescue, Hazardous Materials and Medical responsesystems; Emergency Organization, Command and Control and Multi-Hazard/All-Risk Planning and Disaster Recovery and Reconstru-ction systems. 2.Deployment/ exchange of energency resources (equipment and pe-rsonnel) during times of disaster, as necessary and/or reques-ted. for resources and/or expertise on related issues includi-ng, but not limited to: a.Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) resources, to include US&R T- ask Forces, US&R Technical Specialists/ Advisors, US&R Comm- and and Control Incident Management Teams and Incident Supp-ort Teams. b.Fire Suppression (wildland and structure) and/or HazardousMaterials Tems and/or technical expertise and/or advisors; c.Emergency Mangement/Incident Command Technical Specialistsand/or dvisors; d.Emergency Medical/Disaster Medical Assistance Resources and/or Technical Specialists in Emergency Disaster Medical, Urb-an Search and Rescue Medical Operations and/or Public HealthIssues; e.Strutural Engineers for post earthquake damage assessment a-nd/or for Urban Search and rescue/victim extrication operat-ions; f.Geographic Information specialists and/or technical advisors; g.Flood Rescue teams and/or Technical Specialists/Advisors. h.Facilitation of private sector enterprises that assist and/ or provide gervices to emegency services and public safety entities. i.Specialisis in disaster recovery/Reconstruction and related matters. 3.This Memorandum of Understanding shall enter into force on thedate of signature. In WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned representatives of the twoparties, being duly authorized of the purpose, have signed thisMemorandum of Understanding in duplicate, in the English langua-ge and Chinese Language, both texts being equally authentic. Do-ne at Sacramento, on this 17th day of December 2002. SJGNED IN SACRAMENTO FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR TAIWAN, REPUBLIC OF CHINA───────────────────────────── DALLAS JONESCHI-MIN HUANG DIRECTORDIRECTOR GENERAL GOVERNOR'S OFFICE OFNATIONAL FIRE ADMINISTRATIONEMERGENCY SERVICESMINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR STATE OF CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC OF CHINA AS WITNESSED BY: ───────────────────────────── MICHAEL FLORES. SECRETARY MATTHEW LEE FOREIGN AFFAIRS OFFICEDIRECTOR GENERAL, TAIPEI for GOVERNOR GRAY DAVIS ECONOMIC & CULTURAL OFFICESTATE OF CALIFORNIA (TECO) IN SAN FRANCISCO