Chunghwa Post Chairman Wei Chien-hung (魏建宏) yesterday said that the company on Wednesday intercepted 25 packages containing processed meat products from China and would work with quarantine officials to ensure that no such products from areas affected by African swine fever would enter the country.
Wei made the statement at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which was reviewing the company’s budget for fiscal year 2019.
Lawmakers asked how the company has been assisting quarantine officials to block imports of processed meat products following the outbreak of the disease in China.
The products intercepted on Wednesday were either returned to the sender or destroyed at the port of entry, Wei said.
So far, nobody has been fined for receiving packages containing meat products from China, he said.
Prior to Wednesday, the postal company intercepted 10 to 20 packages containing meat products per day, he said.
Sniffer dogs have been dispatched to detect such packages, Chunghwa Post said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsiao Bih-khim (蕭美琴) said that a netizen had complained that some flights from Hong Kong were serving rice with pork chops.
Hsiao asked how airports should be handling leftovers from meal and whether the government could require international flights entering the nation to not serve pork, particularly flights from China.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chi Wen-jong (祁文中) said that leftovers are destroyed.
“Flight carriers to and from areas affected by African swine fever should not be serving pork,” Chi said. “As to whether the government can ask international flights to stop serving pork, we would ask the Civil Aeronautics Administration [CAA] to gather information on the matter.”
Caterers for in-flight meals should follow the regulations laid out by the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, the CAA said, adding that legitimate environmental technology companies should handle leftovers after gaining the approval of local environmental authorities.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS