Singapore: Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA), Department of Health, Executive Yuan, is hosting a series of international events on medical devices in November (Nov 2-8). The events include the 17^th Asian Harmonization Working Party Annual Conference, 2012 APEC-AHC-AHWP Joint Workshop on Medical Device Combination Products and 2012 APEC Advanced Workshop of Good Review Practice on Medical Products.

Taiwan's medical device industry has been booming in recent years and the Executive Yuan has included medical devices as one of the key areas of development for the domestic biotechnology industry. The Executive Yuan seeks to enhance the global competitiveness of domestic manufacturers and help the domestic industry actively gain a foothold in the global market with its Taiwan Biotech Take-off Diamond Action Plan for the biotechnology industry.

In response to the global harmonization of medical device regulation, the TFDA has been building a regulatory environment for medical devices that is in line with international standards. The agency is active in international harmonization organizations for medical device regulation and is hosting the large-scale conferences to promote transnational integration of resources and the exchange of experiences. Till now, there have been over 400 attendees from 27 countries.

The series of events being held will set three records in Taiwan's medical device industry – the largest number of participating countries, the largest number of participating officers from regulatory authorities around the world and the largest number of registration from foreign attendees. This brings immense honor to the Division of Medical Devices and Cosmetics at the TFDA. The division is in charge of the administration of industry regulations on medical devices in Taiwan as well as organization of the events.

Key participants of the events include Mr Mike Ward, chairman of the APEC Regulatory Harmonization Steering Committee and Manager of International Programs Division at Health Canada; Dr Saleh S Al Tayyar, chairman of the Asian Harmonization Working Party; Mr Jeffrey Gren, director of the Office of Health and Consumer Goods, International Trade Administration, US Department of Commerce; Mr Laurent Selles, head of the Cosmetics and Medical Devices Unit, Directorate-General Health and Consumers, European Commission; Mrs Elizabeth Baker from Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, UK; Mr Kentaro Azuma from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare; Mrs Joanna Koh from Health Sciences Authority, Singapore; Mr Guobiao Gao from the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) of the People's Republic of China; and other representatives of regulatory authorities on medical devices from various countries and regions.

Industry representatives who will be attending the events include Dr. Brian Snyder and Dr. Kulwant Saini, vice presidents of Johnson & Johnson Asia Pacific, Mr. Michael Gropp and Dr. Geraldine Finn, vice presidents of Medtronic from the US, Mr. Arthur Brandwood, CEO of Brandwood Biomedical from Australia and Ms. Siriphan Emrungroj, senior consultant at Thai Medical Device Technology Industry Association