Panama is set to begin exporting meat to the United States by March 2021, following the establishment of a new laboratory to analyze toxic waste in meat. This is due to the requirement by the US for equivalence tests in toxic waste, a requirement that Panama currently lacks. The country has been able to export meat to China, Taiwan, El Salvador, Jamaica, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Trinidad and Tobago, Japan, the Bahamas, Singapore, Nicaragua, and Curaçao despite this. Nicaragua is the leading exporter and producer of beef in Central America, selling $481 million worth in 2018. Costa Rica became the first country in Central America to export pork to China in February of this year. All of Central America is free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination, which is easing the access of these countries to markets.