Taiwan and Italy formally announced mutual access to automated immigration clearance yesterday, making Taiwan the eighth non-EU country granted the privilege by Italy.
Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) and Italian Representative to Taiwan Davide Giglio made the announcement at a ceremony held alongside a border management seminar at which more than 200 international guests participated.
The measure, which allows Taiwanese and Italians to clear immigration using the e-Gate system at each other’s airports, was actually implemented in June, but was only formally announced yesterday.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Other non-EU countries that have the privilege are Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the US, Hsu said.
Republic of China passport holders can enter Italy without needing to apply beforehand for a visa by simply scanning their passport and going through facial and fingerprint recognition at immigration, he said.
Italian holders of biometric passports with six months’ validity and no criminal record can likewise apply for e-Gate services at major airports and seaports in Taiwan, Hsu said.
Taiwan has for the past two years allowed people from Australia, South Korea and the US to enter Taiwan using the e-Gate system, the Ministry of the Interior said.
As of the end of August, more than 210,000 people from those countries have registered to use the service, it said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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