Customs officials on Friday last week started checking the carry-on luggage of travelers arriving from Russia to prevent the import of pork products infected by swine diseases, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday.
Russia has been added to a list of nations subjected to carry-on luggage checks, as African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease are affecting the nation, the agency said.
Russian carrier Royal Flight on May 25 resumed weekly flights between Taoyuan and Moscow following a three-year hiatus, while Siberia Airlines on May 24 launched weekly flights between Taoyuan and Vladivostok.
Asked about the lapse between the flight launches and the luggage checks, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said the council had to consult with experts and go through certain administrative procedures before implementing the policy.
Foot-and-mouth disease, which affected Taiwan since 1997, has been eliminated in the nation and no animals have been vaccinated over the past year, the council said on July 1.
Taiwan has not reported any African swine fever infections after China reported the first outbreak in August last year and all of its provinces had been affected by late April.
In addition to Russia, the carry-on luggage of travelers arriving from China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, North Korea, Myanmar, Thailand and South Korea are also subject to customs checks, although the final three nations have not reported any African swine fever cases.
The outbreak in China is not likely to have eased, as the number of Chinese pork products intercepted at customs that test positive for the disease is rising, Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城) said.
Of the 1,958 seized pork products sampled for testing, 88 have tested positive for African swine fever, six from Vietnam and 82 from China, council data showed on Tuesday.
Among the tainted products from China, 18 were confirmed this month, surpassing the previous high of 13 tainted products detected in May, the data showed.
Faced with a worsening shortage of pork products, China might be using infected hogs stored in refrigerators to make processed products, Huang said.
Some experts have said that China could face another peak in outbreaks, due to its loose control of hog transportation, he said.
Meanwhile, Japanese officials have expressed their admiration of the strict quarantine measures at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, including stiff fines for illegal pork imports, sniffer dogs and the use of GPS to track pork transportation, he said, citing an exchange with quarantine officials at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport two weeks ago.
Chen urged China to cooperate with other nations to curb the spread of African swine fever.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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