Nearly 6,000kg of illegally imported veterinary drugs were seized in Pingtung County, some allegedly from China and India, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday, adding that it is tracing their whereabouts and would recall them from the market.
It is likely the biggest case of illegal veterinary drug imports, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said.
The Pingtung Animal Disease Control Center, in collaboration with the Kaohsiung Police Department and the Coast Guard Administration, on May 29 searched a veterinary medicine dealer’s office in Sinpi Township (新埤) and warehouse on a farmland in Chaojhou Township (潮州) after being tipped off about the illegal operation.
Photo courtesy of the Pingtung Animal Disease Control Center
Investigators seized more than 40 types of illegally imported medicines — including pharmaceutical ingredients for making antibiotics such as amoxicillin and cephalosporin, as well as nitrofuran and roxarsone, which are banned in the nation, the bureau said.
Without passing safety and efficacy testing, illegal drugs might be applied in excessive dosage and contain toxic heavy metal substances, jeopardizing animal health and the quality of animal products, it said.
The county government has revoked the dealer’s permit and on July 10 forwarded the case to the Pingtung Disrict Prosecutors’ Office for further investigation, it said.
The dealer might have sold the drugs to animal farms in central and southern Taiwan, and the bureau is working with judicial agencies to compile its sales data and possibly the drugs, it said.
People convicted of illegally importing and selling banned veterinary drugs could face a jail term of one to seven years or a fine of up to NT$4.5 million (US$144,769) under the Veterinary Drugs Control Act (動物用藥品管理法), it said.
Those caught using banned veterinary drugs face a fine of between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000, and repeat offenders within a year would be fined between NT$500,000 and NT$2.5 million, it said.
To make sure they use legal products, husbandry farms should check drug labels for information such as the manufacturer, government permits and effective date, or visit the bureau’s Web site for a list of approved medicine, it added.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard