The amount of pork products illegally brought into Taiwan by international travelers last year was four times more than in 2021, while less pork was sent using air express delivery services, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday.
Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲), who heads an operation center task force focused on preventing the spread of African swine fever, said that 789kg of pork products were illegally imported into Taiwan last year.
Of that, 451kg was intercepted at Chunghwa Post’s international mail department, down 22.4 percent from 2021, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
He said that 202kg of pork products was brought in by international travelers, while 115kg was delivered from abroad using air express services, a decline of 74.5 percent.
Only 21kg was sent through marine transport services or other services, he said.
Since the government on May 20, 2021, banned imports of pork products from regions affected by African swine fever, 324 international parcels containing pork products have been seized, 138 of which arrived from Hong Kong and 115 of which came from from mainland China, operation center data showed.
Three recipients of parcels were fined NT$200,000 (US$6,512) each for having pork products delivered from overseas.
Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Director-General Tu Wen-jane (杜文珍) said that the three recipients were Taiwanese.
“As the Lunar New Year holiday is approaching, we want to remind the public not to bring in cured meat, ham or sausages from high-risk nations for African swine fever. The Cantonese pastries ‘chicken cakes’ actually contain pork, so do not buy and bring them into the country or have them delivered by mail,” she said.
The government has since October 2020 prohibited pig farms with fewer than 199 pigs from using food waste to feed pigs, Chen said, adding that the policy would continue to be enforced this year.
Eight farms were fined in 2020 and 26 farms were fined in 2021 for contravening the policy.
Pig farmers face a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$3 million for contravening the Feed Control Act (飼料管理法) if they are found using food waste to feed their animals.
They face additional NT$50,000 to NT$1 million fine for contravening the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases (動物傳染病防治條例) if food waste is found on their farms.
Between Aug. 27, 2020, and last month, 4,924 samples were collected from imported meat products, 428 of which tested positive for African swine fever, with 341 from China, 75 from Vietnam and 12 from Thailand.
The samples were gathered from illegally imported pork products seized from passengers, airport disposal boxes, express delivery services, postal parcels and freight services.
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