The government’s ban on Italian pork, which took effect yesterday, is based on scientific evidence and is not a retaliatory measure against Italy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said yesterday.
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine on Wednesday announced a ban on Italian pork and hog products, citing Italy’s inclusion in areas affected by African swine fever over the past three years.
Ou told a news briefing at the ministry in Taipei that the decision to remove Italy from the list of countries not affected by African swine fever was not connected to Italy’s Feb. 2 ban on flights to and from Taiwan amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Italy lists Taiwan as “a province of China affected with COVID-19” and banned flights to and from Taiwan until April 28, along with flights to Hong Kong, Macau and China.
Rome’s ban followed the confirmation that two Chinese tourists had tested positive for COVID-19.
The Italian government’s decision to suspend flights from Taiwan was not scientifically based and was a gross error, and Taiwan is “disappointed” that Italy has not yet offered a clarification on the issue, nor sought to remove the suspension, she said.
African swine fever has become increasingly severe on the Italian island of Sardinia, the bureau said.
The bureau said that it had previously reviewed Italy’s 2009 import application, which noted that Sardinia was an “infected zone,” but said that the threat did not pertain to the rest of Italy and it agreed with that listing, which is why imports of Italian pork were allowed as of March 9, 2018.
However, there is an increasing risk of African swine fever spreading from Sardina to the rest of Italy, as WHO statistics from 2017, 2018 and the first quarter of last year showed 45 cases, 90 cases and 27 cases of the disease respectively, it said.
If Italy wants to resume pork exports to Taiwan, it must file a new application with the bureau, the bureau said.
Bureau officials would then visit Italy to make on-site inspections before ruling on the application, it said.
Anyone entering Taiwan in possession of Italian pork or pork products could be fined a maximum of NT$1 million (US$33,053), the bureau said.
Italian pork accounted for 1.6 percent of the nation’s pork imports last year, making the country the ninth-biggest exporter of such products to Taiwan, bureau data showed.
Of the 13 nations allowed to export pork to Taiwan, the top five last year were Canada, the US, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands, data showed.
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