Pig farms caught illegally using leftovers for feed would face a repeatable fine of up to NT$3 million (US$99,648), Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said yesterday, as the council tightened regulations on leftovers to close loopholes that could cause transmission of African swine fever.
Since China reported the first outbreak in August 2018, the swine epidemic has spread to 10 other Asian countries — Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, East Timor, North Korea, South Korea and Indonesia — as well as areas in Europe and Africa, council data showed.
Although the disease has not yet entered Taiwan, the council hopes to prevent leftovers from becoming a channel of virus transmission by raising the fine for the illegal use of leftovers as pig feed, Chen wrote on Facebook yesterday, reiterating the council’s news release on Monday.
There is not a complete ban on farmers using leftovers to feed pigs, but they need to file an application in advance with local environmental authorities, the council said.
Farms without a permit that feed pigs leftovers would face a fine of NT$30,000 for the first offense and increasingly stiffer penalties of NT$200,000 to NT$3 million for subsequent offenses, Chen said.
Of the nation’s nearly 2,000 hog farms, 751 farms have obtained permits to feed pigs leftovers, while the rest have switched to fodder or quit raising pigs, he wrote.
Farms allowed to use leftovers must disinfect them at 90°C for at least one hour, Chen wrote.
Hog farms that failed past inspections are likely to be inspected more frequently, he added.
The council also called on the public to help oversee hog farms, with those who report the illegal use of leftovers as feed to receive 20 percent of the fine as a reward.
People caught trying to bring pork products from areas infected by African swine fever through customs face a NT$200,000 fine for first offense and NT$1 million for each subsequent offense, while foreigners failing to pay the fine would be denied entry to Taiwan.
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