Quarantine Requirements for the Importation of Bovine Serum from the United States.

The Requirements regulate the importation of bovine serum from the United States. The main points of the amendments are:

1.   For bovine serum from the United States, only that which is manufactured by designated serum processing facilities is eligible to be imported into Chinese Taipei. The list of designated serum processing facilities must be provided by the government of the United States to the animal quarantine authority for reviewing;

2.   The age restriction of the source cattle is proposed to be lifted. When bovine serum is collected during slaughtering, it must be collected from cattle which pass ante- and post-mortem inspections by the competent authority of the country where the slaughterhouse is located. In addition, prior to slaughter, the cattle must not be subjected to a stunning process with a device injecting compressed air or gas into the cranial cavity nor to a pithing process; and

3.   If the serum is not collected during slaughtering, it must be collected from cattle which are found to be in healthy conditions after clinical examinations.