May 30, 2025

Taiwan eyes swine fever-free status

Taiwan is expected to become the first Asian country to be declared free of the "three swine diseases" — referring to classical swine fever (CSF), African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) is expected to declare Taiwan free of CSF this week, the ministry said, adding that the announcement would make Taiwan the only Asian nation to eliminate all of the "three swine diseases" in its territory.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Tu Wen-jane is visiting the organisation's annual meeting in Paris to receive Taiwan's CSF-free certification.

Taiwan had its first and only documented CSF case in Changhua County in 2015. CSF is a contagious and highly lethal viral disease that causes haemorrhaging and stillbirths in pigs, according to the ministry.

Under WOAH rules, all confirmed cases must be reported to the organisation for monitoring and control.

Taiwan vaccinated all of the pigs in its pork industry and implemented an inspection system from 2021 to the middle of 2023, followed by a wind-down period that ended last year.

Officials inspected pig farms for signs of the disease throughout the process before applying to the WOAH for CSF-free status.

Obtaining the status would be a boon to the pork industry, as it would reduce vaccination-related costs, including personnel, buying doses, and losses of pigs to side effects and distress, it said.

The status would pave the way for expanded pork exports and bolster the global market's confidence in the safety of Taiwanese farm products, it added.

In 2020, the ministry implemented a hazard analysis and critical control points-based certification programme for pig farms and slaughterhouses to boost the industry's global competitiveness.

Agricultural officials continue to negotiate with foreign governments to open up markets while overseeing upgrades to the pig farming and pork-processing industries.

The programmes are responsible for decisions by the Philippines and Singapore to partially open to Taiwanese pork in 2023 and last year respectively.

Taiwan had a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 1997 and was declared free of the disease in 2020, ending the vaccination mandate for swine raised in the nation.

Taiwan was one of the Asian nations affected by the 2018 African swine fever outbreak before last year regaining WOAH certification of being free from the disease.

-      Taipei Times