Taiwan’s effectiveness in preventing African swine fever has been recognized internationally, with the World Organization for Animal Health placing it on its list of places having self-declared freedom from the disease, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday.
The World Organization for Animal Health made the announcement on Thursday after conducting administrative and technical screening of documents submitted in July, the ministry said.
The body assumes no responsibility for the information Taiwan provided, the ministry added.
Photo: Taipei Times
Taiwan and Japan are the only two East Asian countries to have successfully kept African swine fever at bay, the ministry said in a statement.
Taiwan’s inclusion on the list is significant in the promotion of the nation’s sustainable development of its livestock industry, it said.
Taiwan-produced pigs and fresh pork can be exported to the Philippines, and talks are under way with Singapore and Malaysia to permit imports of fresh pork, the ministry said.
After a global outbreak of African swine fever in 2018, Taiwan established a response center dedicated to preventing its spread, the ministry said.
Through stringent border inspections, treatment of food waste and swift disposal of infected pigs, the nation contained the disease on farms and in the wild, it said.
In addition to its African swine fever-free status, Taiwan has been classified by the World Organization for Animal Health as free from foot-and-mouth disease and goat pox, the ministry said, adding that the next goal is to achieve recognition as being free of classical swine fever.
If Taiwan secures that status at the World Organization for Animal Health’s annual assembly in May next year, it will join a select few countries in Asia that are free of the three major infectious swine diseases, the ministry said.
Additional reporting by Yang Yuan-ting
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