TAIWAN, May 22, 1998 - The American Institute in Taiwan and the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership, in conjunction with the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology and the Taiwan Council of Agriculture, today announced the opening of the Livestock Waste Management Center at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology on Monday, May 25, 1998.

"We are extremely pleased to be able to work in partnership with colleagues in Asia and specifically in Taiwan to find solutions to this major environmental challenge," said Darryl N. Johnson, Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, regarding the Livestock Waste Management Center. The Center will be located at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) and will showcase state-of-the-art U.S. technologies through demonstration sites and workshops. The opening ceremony will be held at the Center in Pingtung County on May 25, 1998.

In the past few decades, three major worldwide trends have emerged in livestock production: (1) a shift from small to increasingly large scale operations, (2) an increase in production density, and (3) a decrease in the supply of land to treat wastes. These trends exist in both Asia and the United States and have created enormous environmental pollution concerns in water and land ecosystems. As a result, there has been an increasing demand for stricter environmental controls.

Present livestock waste treatment systems are not adequate to keep pace in the 21st century in land-short regions of Asia and the United States. New, innovative, cost-effective, livestock treatment systems are required to address public and industry concerns and constraints on livestock production.

Under the umbrella of the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP), a team of U.S. experts from industry, academia and the U.S. Department of Agriculture worked in partnership with the NPUST to design and establish this Center. U.S. companies are donating almost NT$20 million worth of equipment to the Center.

The Center is expected to become an example in the transfer of environmental protection technology and cost-effective solutions for the future of sustainable agriculture. The Center will host observers from around Asia to expose them to new ways in which they may combat the same problems in their own countries.

AIT Director Johnson added that he expects the Center to make a very significant contribution to environmentally sound agricultural practices in Asia.