Preamble:

1. For meat and meat products derived from cloven-hoofed animals (cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, deer etc.): the exporting country shall be recognized as a country free from food and mouth disease (FMD), rinderpest, bovine contagious pleuropneumonia (CBPP) and African swine fever (ASF) by the Council of Agriculture (COA), Executive Yuan.

2. Concerning over food safety and hygiene of BSE, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), Executive Yuan, impose the ban on beef import from BSE infected countries.

3. In terms of beef import from BSE infected countries, the exporting country shall overcome aforementioned animal disease issues and food safety of BSE in advance.

Procedure:

1.To solve animal diseases and beef restriction issues, the exporting country shall submit its application to MOHW and BAPHIQ.

--to be recognized as a country free from FMD, rinderpest, CBPP and ASF

The exporting country shall submit an application in accordance with the “Procedure for the Recognition of Disease-Free Status of a Foreign Country”. Relevant documents should be submitted to the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ), COA for review and evaluation. After reviewing and conducting risk assessment by BAPHIQ, the COA will recognize the country’s disease free status.
--to relieve food safety and hygiene concern of BSE

The exporting country shall submit an application to the MOHW, providing relevant documents as attachment. After reviewing and conducting risk assessment, the MOHW will lift the ban on beef import.

2. After overcoming the animal disease issue and lifting the ban on beef import, the BAPHIQ and MOHW will jointly review equivalency on beef of the exporting country. The process for assessing equivalency is in accordance with related regulations.

Attachment:

Information to be included in application for beef import from BSE infected countries.

1. The applicant country’s epidemiological reports for each case of BSE.

2. The applicant country’s feed ban associated monitoring measures as well as the feed ban’s monitoring/inspection plan and results.

3. The applicant country’s surveillance plan and cattle identification/traceability system for the prevention of BSE.

4. The applicant country’s current progress on the implementation of slaughter hygiene and SRM removal measures for the prevention of BSE contamination.

5. The applicant country’s risk analysis reports on the consumer safety of the beef in its country.

6. The applicant country’s current status on beef exports to other countries (the target country’s import conditions and when the beef import took place; if the target country imposed the ban on beef import, when did it lifted the ban).

7. Other required documents. (The applicant country is required to provide the fill-in 「Questionnaires of Equivalence Information of Food Safety System in Meat and Poultry Products Including Further Processed Meat Products and Animal Fats for Applying Import to Taiwan」if the applicant country has not summited the fill-in questionnaires for beef market access before).