Pest control industry and vector control activities in Taiwan.

At the end of 1993, there were 117 private pest control companies in Taiwan, with 438 technical managers and 274 technicians. Their business includes the control of mosquitoes, cockroaches, fleas, rodents, termites, houseflies, etc. Pyrethroids and some organophosphates are employed. At present, no applications of insect growth regulators or microbial agents are used by private pest control operators. During dengue epidemics they assist the government in space spraying with insecticides. The Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan, R.O.C., is responsible for the training and management of pest control operators. In addition, the Administration is also in charge of affairs concerning the manufacture, import, registration and sale of environmental pesticides and microbial agents. It establishes protocols for testing the efficacy of insecticides and promotes pest control on the community level.