Paris, May 21 (CNA) 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," a Taiwan official said Sunday.
Taiwan is expected to receive an official certificate of its FMD status from the OIE on May 25, according to Shih Tai-hua, deputy chief of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, who is attending the 85th General Session of the World Assembly of OIE Delegates in Paris.
The listing will apply to Taiwan proper, Penghu and Matsu, Shih said, adding that Taiwan's efforts on FMD prevention and control have produced results.
He said that next year FMD vaccination will stop in Taiwan and those two island counties and in 2019, Taiwan will apply for listing among the "member countries and zones recognized as free from FMD without vaccination."
Kinmen, Taiwan's other outlying county, remains an area with foot-and-mouth disease and Minister of Agriculture Lin Tsung-hsien said in Taipei that it is the government's goal to eradicate the disease in Kinmen as well as in other parts of Taiwan in order to improve the competitiveness of Taiwanese pork.
The news that Taiwan was being listed among the OIE member countries and zones recognized as free from foot-and-mouth disease with vaccination was confirmed by at a press conference by OIE Director-General Monique Eloit.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese Chang Chia-yi, an associate research fellow at the Animal Health Research Institute, has been recognized by the OIE as an expert in porcine epidemic diseases, according to Shih.
Such recognition has been granted to experts from only five other countries, namely Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland and Canada, he said.
The OIE general session is being held May 21-26, bringing together representatives of 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.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Taiwan will hold bilateral talks with Brazil, Canada, France, Lithuania, Australia, Singapore and Estonia, focusing mainly on trade, according to Shih.
