As African swine fever (ASF) rages in China, neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, which have not yet been affected by the disease, are on high alert and doing everything in their power to prevent its spread. However, from time to time passengers have been caught attempting to bring meat products into the country, often claiming that they were not aware of the new regulations or that they thought vacuum-packed meat products were allowed, since they are not raw meat nor perishable. In an interview last Monday, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine attempted to explode such myths and the bureau hopes that by doing so people will more clearly understand the situation and not try to push their luck.
Statistics show that the passengers who have been fined are nationals from Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, as well as Vietnamese and Chinese spouses traveling on Republic of China (Taiwan) passports. They have been caught bringing in poultry and meat products from areas affected by animal epidemics such as ASF, foot-and-month disease and bird flu.
Despite the bureau’s efforts to actively promote and raise awareness of ASF at the airports’ departure and arrival areas, as well as showing videos on board to advise passengers not to bring in meat products, most passengers who were fined still said that they were “not aware of the regulations.” Some even thought that as long as it was not perishable food or raw meat, it was OK to bring in processed and vacuum-packed meat products.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Customs, Customs Administration
照片:關務署台北關提供
Preserved pork and sausages are meat products often imported illegally by passengers. The bureau’s section chief Peng Ming-hsing points out: “In the past, once we caught passengers carrying in such items, we usually advised them and discarded the items without actually fining the passengers, which might have given the impression that these items were allowed to be imported.”
On passengers’ misconceptions, Peng stresses that: “Only canned food can be brought into the country. Others products are not allowed.” Canned food also includes “soft can packaging,” such as prepared food pouches within a pot of instant noodles. However, beef canned food for pets is not allowed to brought into the country.
Peng pointed out that canned foods are prepared by using a high-temperature and high-pressure sterilization process, so they can be stored at room temperature without need for refrigeration or freezing, and as a result there will be no problem that they might be carrying diseases viruses or germs. Vacuum packaging only extracts air and so must be refrigerated or frozen, which means that the ASF virus can still survive — and this is why vacuum-packed foods are disallowed.
Photo: CNA
照片:中央社
In addition, in Taiwan there are many spouses from China and Southeast Asia — they may miss the cuisine of their country of origin and so often try to find ways to import meat products into Taiwan. Peng also stressed that this is now completely banned.
(Translated by Lin Lee-kai, Taipei Times)
非洲豬瘟在中國大陸肆虐,沒有疫情的鄰國日、韓和台灣政府都上緊發條,全力防堵。然而,卻仍常查獲旅客卻私帶肉品闖關,違規者常聲稱不知新規定,或以為非生肉、非生鮮、真空包裝豬肉產品就可入境,防檢局上週一破解迷思,盼民眾了解並勿心存僥倖。
Photo: CNA
照片:中央社
根據數據顯示,遭裁罰的旅客包含我國籍、中國、印尼、馬來西亞、越南及泰國等國旅客,也包含取得我國籍的越南及中國新住民,他們從非洲豬瘟、口蹄疫、禽流感等動物傳染病疫區帶回禽畜肉品。
雖然防檢局積極在機場出入境地點加強宣導,也在機上播放影片宣傳勿帶肉品入境,但遭裁罰旅客多數仍表示,「不清楚規定」,更有人以為只要不是生鮮、不是生肉,有經過加工、有真空包裝的肉品就可以入境。
觸法的旅客常常違規攜帶的肉品包含臘肉、香腸等,防檢局組長彭明興指出:「以前查到時,多數是用勸導並要求丟棄置桶,並沒有針對民眾開罰,所以可能讓許多民眾以為這些是可攜帶的。」
對於旅客迷思,彭明興受訪強調:「只有罐頭可以帶入境,其他通通不准帶。」也包含軟性罐頭,像是泡麵裡的調理包。至於供寵物食用的罐頭,則禁止牛肉罐頭攜入。
彭明興指出,罐頭是經過高溫、高壓滅菌消毒製程的食品,可以常溫保存不需要冷藏、冷凍,不會有疫病問題,真空包裝則僅是把空氣抽出,還是必須放冷凍冷藏,非洲豬瘟病毒仍能存活,因此不准攜帶入境。
另外,由於台灣有許多來自大陸、東南亞的新住民,也許會因為想念家鄉味,設法尋找管道夾帶肉製品入境,彭明興也強調,現在已完全禁止。
(中央社)
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang As with many aspects of Japanese culture, there is etiquette to follow when you enjoy noodles. To fully experience noodles like a local on your next visit to Japan, consider these simple guidelines. First, be careful where you put your chopsticks. Don’t leave them sticking up in the broth or set them at the side of the bowl. When you have finished eating or if you’re taking a break, place them on the chopstick rest next to the bowl. Also, it is impolite to wave chopsticks around or bring them above mouth-level. Second, don’t take too