TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI) has become an official partner under the name of Taiwan of two international organizations, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said Tuesday (March 7).

After being registered as a collaborator of the Global Foot-and-Mouth Research Alliance (GFRA) and of the Global African Swine Fever Research Alliance (GARA), Taiwan was for the first time allowed to join the two bodies as a partner in its own name, the Liberty Times reported.

In the past, AHRI was only allowed to attend a limited number of events with the two organizations, but thanks to support from the United States, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the GFRA and the GARA allowing it to participate in all their programs.

The change would help Taiwan cement its position as a country free of foot-and-mouth disease and prevent the entry of African swine fever, officials said.

The COA was also holding talks with an eight-member delegation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) under the leadership of its administrator, Simon Liu, about zero carbon emissions, sustainable fishing and agriculture, resilient forestry, and exchanges in personnel training.

The last topic would include cooperation between the COA, the ARS, and U.S. universities, with two young Taiwanese agriculture specialists already having been selected to study in the U.S. Taiwan’s development of animal vaccines and their distribution overseas would also be helped by the discussions, the COA said.