Prosciutto di Parma can finally be exported to Taiwan, as it opens to import pork meat products from Italy.

This was announced by the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine -BAPHQ – and by the Italian Ministry of Health, who today officialized the health certificates needed to begin exporting.

The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration – TFDA – also notified the Prosciutto di Parma producers, about 40 to date, who had shown interest in exporting to this country and now are qualified to do so.

We are very pleased with this result – said Vittorio Capanna, president of the Consortium. We – as Consorzio and our producers – collaborated actively with the Taiwanese Authorities who carried out several inspections in Italy of the food safety management systems.

Our producers passed the tests brilliantly thanks to the particularity of the production process as the production process of Prosciutto di Parma which offers the highest guarantees in terms of health and food safety.

We would like to thank all the Italian Authorities who have followed with commitment these long and complex negotiations over the years.

Taiwan was the last interesting Asian market to be still closed and now it joins the already long list of over 90 countries where Prosciutto di Parma is currently exported. After an initial period of analysis, the Consortium will be committed to laying the foundations for building solid relationships with local operators to foster a market that offers strategic potential for the whole Asian area, which today imports about 150,000 dry-cured hams a year, with Japan in the lead, followed by China, Singapore and Hong Kong.