Taiwan has made some progress in combating human trafficking over the past year, but should do much more, including extending labor protections to all categories of workers to prevent labor trafficking, according to the just-released 2009 U.S. Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report. The annual report placed Taiwan in Tier 2 ranking, which is for governments that are making significant efforts to meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking prescribed by the U.S. law that guides anti-human trafficking efforts - the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Governments that fully comply are placed in Tier 1. Governments that do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so are placed in Tier 3. 'Taiwan authorities made noticeable progress during the reporting period by passing a new anti-trafficking law, bolstering law enforcement efforts, and approving a budget plan of US$14.8 million for victim protection measures,' the report acknowledged. Trafficked victims - including men, women and children - are usually brought to Taiwan for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation, according to the report. Most trafficking victims are workers from rural areas of Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. They are employed through recruitment agencies and brokers to perform low-skilled work in Taiwan's construction, fishing, and manufacturing industries, or to work as domestic helpers. 'Many of these workers fall victim to labor trafficking by unscrupulous brokers and employers, who force workers to perform work outside the scope of their contract and often under exploitative conditions, ' the report said, which is available online. Some women and girls from China and Southeast Asian countries are trafficked to Taiwan through fraudulent marriages, deceptive employment offers, and illegal smuggling for sexual exploitation and forced labor, the report found. It said many migrant workers are charged job placement and service fees up to the equivalent of US$14,000, some of which are unlawful. The report added that this results in substantial debt for the workers that unscrupulous labor brokers or employers may use as a coercive tool to subject the workers to involuntary servitude. 'Many foreign workers remain vulnerable to trafficking because legal protections, oversight by authorities and enforcement efforts are currently inadequate, ' said the report. Taiwan's regulations currently allow employers to implement a system of 'forced savings, ' whereby employers deduct up to 30 percent of a foreign worker's monthly salary to be placed in a bank account in the worker's name, but inaccessible to the worker, the report said. This system has facilitated trafficking, it said. The report cited NGOs saying that immigration, police and local law enforcement officials continue to view trafficking victims as runaways or criminals, resulting in some victims being penalized rather than assisted. In addition to recommending that Taiwan extend labor protections to all categories of workers, the report also suggested that Taiwan implement its new comprehensive anti-trafficking law and effectively carry out its victim and witness protections so that victims are not penalized for acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked, which would encourage them to seek help. It also suggested Taiwan increase police efforts to investigate trafficking crimes and to identify trafficking victims, and improve cooperation with governments of labor source countries on trafficking investigations. Taiwan's National Immigration Agency (NIA), which did not have a direct response to the findings of the report, said Thursday that Taiwan has remained on Tier 2 in the annual report for three consecutive years. It said Japan and Singapore also received Tier 2 ranking. The agency said Taiwan was placed on Tier 2 Watch List in 2006 and upgraded to Tier 2 the next year. 