Taiwan's fresh pork allowed back into Singapore market after 15 years

Taipei, Nov. 29 (CNA) Taiwan's fresh pork has been allowed back into the Singapore market after a 15-year hiatus due to the strides made by Taiwan in swine disease control efforts, Taiwan's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said Friday.

The Singapore Food Agency said Friday that it had lifted restrictions on the export of frozen pork and pork products and approved the export of chilled pork and pork products from Taiwan.

As part of that process, Cha I Shan Foods Co. was the first Taiwanese company to be approved to export fresh pork to Singapore, having secured Taiwan's slaughterhouse-related Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certification, the MOA said.

HACCP is a preventive system ensuring food safety by addressing potential biological, chemical, and physical hazards during production.

Taiwan's pork exports had been cut off for more than a decade by countries around the world because of problems in controlling swine-related diseases.

But that changed after Taiwan achieved foot-and-mouth disease-free status without vaccination in 2020 from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the MOA said.

It has also successfully kept African swine fever at bay, the MOA said.

Since Taiwan's breakthrough in 2020, the MOA has been negotiating with various countries to accept frozen or chilled pork from Taiwan, and Singapore is the second country, following the Philippines, to finalize bilateral negotiations for importing Taiwanese fresh pork, according to the MOA.

The most recent development is expected to boost pork exports, the ministry said. As of Nov. 20, 2024, 429 metric tons of frozen pork had been sold to the Philippines in the year to date after it lifted the ban on Taiwan in early 2023.

Since Taiwan implemented the HACCP certification process on Dec. 15, 2020, 11 pig and 17 poultry slaughterhouses in the country have been certified, the MOA said.

The Taiwanese government has in recent years focused on making the country free from the three major swine diseases -- foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, and classical swine fever (CSF) -- to make its pork more marketable overseas.

To achieve that goal, the MOA said, Taiwan will only need to secure CSF-free status at the WOAH annual assembly in May 2025.