RED DEER, Alta. (Staff) – This is the year of the boar for the Taiwanese. It may also be the year that marks Taiwan’s decline as a major pork supplier to its Pacific Rim neighbors.
Environmental regulations to control manure disposal could force Taiwan farmers to scale back production by 30 percent leveling off their pig herd at about nine million head, said Don Sim of Fletcher’s Fine Foods at the Alberta Pork Congress.
Tighter legislation governing waste disposal, water pollution and new world trade agreements that curb hog production in Asia may open the Pacific Rim door a little wider to Canadian exporters, said Ab Barrie, an Asian trade specialist for the Alberta government.
Taiwan producers killed 10 million hogs last year, but had to import seven million tonnes of feed for its cattle, hog and fish industries, said Barrie.
“Pork does not fit into their political future,”said Barrie.
To remain viable, the Taiwanese may be interested in investing elsewhere, but at the same time they’ll likely tighten import rules to protect their remaining producers, said Barrie.
