TAIPEI, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan's top negotiator on cross-Strait affairs Chiang Pin-kung said Tuesday the medical and health cooperation agreement, expected to be signed this afternoon, will be a key part of the "safety net" between the island and the mainland.
The agreement along with the previously signed farm product inspection and quarantine agreement and a food safety deal form the safety net, said Chiang, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), during Tuesday's talks with Chen Yunlin, president of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).
He said the medical and health cooperation agreement concerned people's health and protected consumer rights on both sides.
It would boost the growth of the medical sector, promote research and development of new drugs and generally make medical cooperation easier, he said.
Chen Yunlin said cross-Strait medical cooperation was urgently needed "given the increasing number of people and goods traveling across the Strait."
Among things the agreement includes: timely notification of infectious diseases; strengthened exchange in clinical test management; enhanced traditional Chinese medicine quality; cooperation in handling medical emergencies; and improved cross-Strait cooperation in biotechnology.
This is the sixth round of talks between the SEF and the ARATS in the two years after the two organizations, authorized by the mainland and Taiwan to handle cross-Strait affairs, resumed talks in 2008 after a nine-year suspension.
