Taiwanese authorities have accepted the principle of "systems equivalence" in the area of meat quarantine and inspection, Minister for Trade Negotiations Jim Sutton announced today.

Mr Sutton said that previously, the Taiwan authorities had insisted on approving meat slaughtering premises on an individual basis.

"Now this requirement has been dropped in recognition of the high quality of MAF systems.

This means that new entrants to the market who wish to export meat such as beef, lamb and venison are able to target the Taiwan market as soon as their MAF license is issued

Mr Sutton said it was pleasing to see Taiwan applying World Trade Organisation principles, such as accepting the equivalence of outcomes from regulatory systems, even before they were subject to WTO rules.

We still have some work to do in certain other product areas where Taiwan scientists may not agree with our assessment of ways to manage risk adequately but the Taiwan authorities' willingness to listen to New Zealand explanations about meat sets a precedent for further constructive engagement on any problems which might arise.

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