aiwan, in the hope that exports of the country's fresh pork may resume in August 2009, agriculture officials said yesterday. No-vaccination trials have been carried out in Penghu County since March 2006, and will be extended to mainland Taiwan, Kinmen and Matsu in this April, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health, Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) under the Council for Agriculture (COA) said.
According to the BAPHIQ, the trials will expand gradually, with the numbers of pigs in each herd no longer receiving vaccination increasing from a few to the entire stock. If the program goes well the pork industry across the country will be FMD vaccination free by August 2008.
If there is no outbreak of FMD for one year's time following the final end of vaccination, Taiwan may apply to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for recognition as a "FMD free country where vaccination is not practiced", a status which would enable the country to resume its once-vigorous fresh pork exports, the BAPHIQ said.
A disastrous FMD outbreak struck Taiwan in 1997 and led to the culling of 3.83 million pigs. With measures including vaccination, the situation came under control and no outbreak has been reported since Feb. 2001. In May 2003 Taiwan was recognized as a "FMD free country where vaccination is practiced" by the OIE.
The BAPHIQ said under its current status Taiwan may export heat-treated pork but not fresh pork, but the resumption of exports of the latter will provide far greater opportunities.
Terms of use