The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has approved Taiwan’s application to be listed among the “member countries and zones recognized as free from foot-and-mouth disease [FMD] with vaccination,” an official said on Sunday.
The listing was confirmed by OIE Director-General Monique Eloit at a news conference.
Taiwan would receive an official certificate of its FMD status from the OIE on Thursday, said Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Deputy Director-General Shih Tai-hua (施泰華), who is attending the 85th general session of the World Assembly of Delegates of the OIE in Paris.
The listing will apply to Taiwan proper, as well as Penghu and Matsu counties, Shih said, adding that the nation’s efforts on FMD prevention and control have produced results.
FMD vaccinations will stop on Taiwan proper next year and in the two counties in 2019, he said.
Taiwan would then apply to be listed among the “member countries and zones recognized as free from FMD without vaccination,” he said.
Kinmen remains affected with FMD and Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) in Taipei said that the government aims to eradicate the disease in the county, as well as in other parts of the nation, to improve the competitiveness of Taiwanese pork.
Meanwhile, Chang Chia-yi (張家宜), an associate research fellow at the Animal Health Research Institute, has been recognized by the OIE as an expert in porcine epidemic diseases, Shih said.
The recognition has been conferred upon experts from only five other nations — Japan, Germany, the UK, Poland and Canada — he said.
The OIE meeting, which began on Sunday and runs through Friday, brings together representatives from 180 OIE members and observers from international organizations that have signed an official agreement with the OIE, as well as other international and regional organizations and invited guests.
Taiwan’s delegation is to hold bilateral talks with those from Brazil, Canada, France, Lithuania, Australia, Singapore and Estonia on the sidelines of the meeting, focusing mainly on trade, Shih said.
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