The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday said that it would promote amendments to immigration laws to require foreign travelers caught carrying agricultural products from disease-affected areas to pay the full fine before entering the nation.
The amendments are “necessary” considering that only 1.46 percent, or about NT$100,000 (US$3,246), of fines totaling NT$7.4 million imposed on foreigners were collected last year, NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) told a news conference at the party’s caucus office.
To prevent the spread of African swine fever into the nation, since Tuesday last week foreign travelers caught carrying pork products from areas affected by the disease risked fines of between NT$200,000 and NT$1 million.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Huang questioned a statement by the Council of Agriculture on Monday that it had collected 80 percent of fines from foreigners caught carrying illegal agricultural products.
The council has issued 17 NT$50,000 fines and 11 NT$200,000 fines for pork products illegally carried into the nation, he said.
However, it has collected only two NT$50,000 fines and no NT$200,000 fines, he added.
In other words, of a total of NT$3.05 million in issued fines, the council has collected only NT$100,000, Huang said, adding: “I do not know what is wrong with the math of council officials.”
The National Immigration Agency and the council have differing views on whether foreigners caught carrying agricultural products from areas affected by disease can be banned from entering the nation under current laws.
The Immigration Act (入出國及移民法) and the Act on Permission for Entrance of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入臺灣地區許可辦法) stipulate that travelers from China and other nations can be banned from entering Taiwan if caught carrying contraband, but the agencies have opposing positions on whether agricultural products from disease-affected areas — which vary over time — count as contraband.
Huang said that he had asked the agency and council to discuss the issue and decide on a consistent legal interpretation by Monday evening, but they have yet to make an announcement.
To quickly and effectively enhance protection against African swine fever, the party has proposed draft amendments to the two laws that would require travelers from China and other nations caught carrying agricultural products from areas affected by disease to pay the full fine before entering Taiwan, he said.
The draft amendments stipulate that foreigners who owe the government taxes and fines would also be required to pay the remainder before entering the nation, he added.
“We welcome travelers from around the world to visit Taiwan, but if anyone breaks the law, they must be held responsible,” Huang said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS