The Agriculture Ministry announced Monday, April 6, that the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) approved Taiwan to resume its status as African swine fever (ASF)-free. With this, Taiwan is once again the only country in Asia free of all three major swine diseases.

Taiwan was certified “ASF-free” by the WOAH last May, but in October of the same year, the country experienced its first case of the disease. Following containment measures and investigation, officials reported the outbreak as closed to the WOAH this January, as per its procedures.

In a press release, the Agriculture Ministry stated that it applied for Taiwan to return to its ASF-free status in late February, passing the rigorous WOAH review in just over a month, far ahead of projections.

The ministry continued that regaining the WOAH certification comes with great responsibilities, and thanked the government and local officials for their hard work.

The ministry will maintain a rigorous nationwide disease prevention and monitoring mechanism, including post-market inspections, stricter food-waste management, and wild boar monitoring, among other tools, to keep African swine fever from entering Taiwan’s domestic pig farms.

The ministry also said it will utilize WOAH procedure on its return to disease-free status to accelerate negotiations with trade partners regarding the export of fresh pork and live pigs. The industry is now seeking to expand export opportunities with new products and into new markets.