Taiwan Pork Exports Expected to Resume in 2 Years

TAIPEI - Taiwan pork exports are expected to resume in two years, Council of Agriculture Chairman Lee Chin-lung said Thursday.
calendar icon 20 December 2002
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Lee noted that no foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) cases have been recorded in Taiwan for the past 22 months, with the last case being reported in February 2001.

He said that according to World Organization for Animal Health norms, if no FMD cases are reported in two years, Taiwan can stop the vaccination of its hogs after a careful assessment that the environments for raising hogs are safe and clean.

After another year, namely by February 2004, if there are still no FMD cases reported, then Taiwan will be declared an FMD-free area and will be allowed to resume exports of pork and pork products.

Lee said that Taiwan's pork and pork-product exports, which mainly went to Japan, totaled NT$30 billion (US$857.14 million) per year before the FMD outbreak on the island in March 1997. At that time, the government ordered the slaughter of 3.85 million pigs. Taiwan's pig population stood at 10.69 million at the end of 1996.

He said that after the FMD outbreak in Taiwan, Japan started to import pork from Denmark and other countries. He noted however that Taiwan's hog-raising methods and its transportation costs have a competitive edge, adding that Japanese consumers prefer the taste of Taiwan pork.

Once Taiwan is declared an FMD-free area, its pork and pork products are expected to make inroads into Japan, leading to expected total annual exports of NT$30 billion, Lee added.

Source: AsiaPulse via COMTEX - 19th December 2002

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