Those bringing pork products into the country from Thailand are to face a fine of at least NT$200,000 (US$7,229), after the country on Tuesday declared its first case of African swine fever.
Starting immediately, offenders are to be fined NT$200,000 for the first offense and NT$1 million for repeat offenses, the Central Emergency Operation Center said on Tuesday.
Foreign nationals who cannot pay the fine would be denied entry and deported, the agency added.
Photo: CNA
The tightened restrictions were announced after the Thai Department of Livestock Development on Tuesday confirmed the country’s first case of the virus in a surface swab sample from a slaughterhouse in Nakhon Pathom Province.
One sample tested positive from among 309 blood and surface samples collected in hog farming areas, the department said.
Bangkok said it would report the findings to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and declare the 5km radius around the slaughterhouse an outbreak zone.
It is considering culling pigs farmed in the area, it added.
As per OIE regulations, a country must be declared as affected once the virus has been detected within its borders, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Deputy Director-General Hsu Jung-pin (徐榮彬) said.
The heightened penalties also come after the bureau detected the virus on sausages sent from Thailand on Dec. 15 and 27 last year, as well as Monday last week.
Inspections of packages and luggage originating from Southeast Asia would be bolstered, the bureau said, adding that it is paying close attention to the issue.
As travel and mail volumes increase with the approaching Lunar New Year holiday, parcels, luggage and shipments from affected and high-risk areas would be inspected one by one, the center said.
During an inspection yesterday at the Tainan Mail Processing Center, where the three cases were detected, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said that packages would be opened and inspected on the spot if flagged by a sniffer dog.
The number of incoming packages of banned pork products has increased by more than 50 percent between 2020 and last year, namely from affected areas such as China, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam and Thailand, Chen said, urging residents not to order pork from such areas.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has also called on the council, and the ministries of finance and transportation and communications to draw up increased measures to prevent the virus from entering the country, Chen added.
As it is difficult to identify the sender of a package, penalties would focus on recipients, a council representative said.
Residents who receive a package containing pork from an unknown source should contact the bureau, which would collect and destroy it.
Those who do not comply would face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$150,000 under the Act for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Disease (動物傳染病防治條例).
The center also vowed to improve communication with foreign residents and to work with businesses to ensure no meat products with unclear sourcing are sold.
Farm inspections would be bolstered along with food waste sanitization and other enhanced measures, it added.
Although African swine fever does not pose a risk to humans, the virus can be fatal to pigs and severely affect pork producers.
The virus has been detected in most of Asia, although Taiwan and Japan have not been affected.
Nations in Asia affected by African swine fever are: Bhutan; Cambodia; China, including Hong Kong and Macau; Indonesia; India; Laos; Malaysia; Mongolia; Myanmar; North Korea; the Philippines; South Korea; Thailand; East Timor; and Vietnam.
Additional reporting by Reuters and CNA
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS