The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday said it would not ban the use of kitchen waste as pig feed, despite increasing calls from hog farmers and experts for a ban to prevent the transmission of African swine fever.
More than 280 hog farmers on Friday in a joint statement called on the council to prohibit feeding pigs leftovers.
Using leftovers to feed pigs is a backward practice and provides a hotbed for virus transmission, they said, urging the council to protect and upgrade the hog industry.
Photo: CNA
Instead of imposing an immediate ban, the council is encouraging farmers to switch to commercial fodder by providing subsidies and technical assistance, COA Chief Secretary Chang Chih-sheng (張致盛) told a news conference in Taipei.
The council last year identified 2,045 hog farms using leftovers as pig feed, but that number has fallen to 1,776 after the rest had switched to commercial fodder by yesterday, Chang said.
Leftovers are just one channel for virus transmission and the risk can be minimized by heating leftovers to 90°C for at least an hour, as they are required to do, Department of Animal Industry Deputy Director Wang Chung-shu (王忠恕) said.
The council next week would meet with experts and local representatives to further discuss the matter, he added.
Taiwan produced about 970,000 tonnes of leftovers in 2017, of which 770,000 tonnes were used as pig feed, Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Bureau of Environmental Inspection Deputy Inspector-General Lin Jso-hsiang (林左祥) said.
If feeding kitchen waste to pigs were banned, restaurants and hotels producing more than 16kg of leftovers per day would need to contract firms to process them at disposal fees of NT$2,000 to NT$3,000 (US$64.80 to US$97.20) per tonne, he said.
The nearly 200 firms nationwide that produce more than 1 tonne of leftovers per day are advised to install their own fast-fermenting devices, Lin said, adding that the agency would meet with such businesses next week.
Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Li-shan (張麗善) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Dec. 25 announced a ban on using leftovers as pig feed, making it the first municipality to do so.
The move drew criticism from Premier William Lai (賴清德).
The county produces about 90 tonnes of leftovers every day, which are now sent to local plants for disposal, including Nan Ya Plastics Corp’s recycling plant, Yunlin Environmental Protection Bureau Director Chang Chiao-wei (張喬維) said via telephone yesterday.
The central government should fully support the county’s plan to do so and follow suit by announcing a national ban, he said, asking whether the central government would be ready to tackle all leftovers if the disease enters the nation.
Meanwhile, customs officials had as of Friday intercepted 127 illegal imports of meat products, including 44 pork products from China, since Dec. 18, when it raised fines for first-time offenders to NT$200,000 and repeat offenders to NT$1 million, council data showed.
Chunghwa Post Co yesterday reminded people not to import any meat products from overseas, not to order foreign meat products by mail and not to visit foreign farms.
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
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
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
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS