The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine is working on measures that include allowing pet cat or dog importers to conditionally waive the mandated quarantine period.
The measures are in response to the increasing demand for imported pets and requests for a more flexible quarantine policy while minimizing risks of importing rabies, bureau Deputy Director-General Hsu Jung-pin (徐榮彬) said yesterday, adding that they could be implemented in the latter half of this month.
The nation in 2021 had 87,810 registered house cats and 1.23 million house dogs, Hsu said, citing the bureau’s statistics.
Photo: CNA
The bureau has proposed amendments to Addendum 6, Article 8 of the Regulations for the Importation of Objects Subject to Animal Quarantine (輸入應施檢疫物檢疫準則), with the bureau designating three types of risk management measures and pet importers being allowed to apply for a quarantine waiver if they meet one of the requirements.
One, importers must apply for a quarantine waiver 120 days before the pet’s arrival. The other two applies to people applying for an import permit 20 days before the animal’s arrival: importers must present quarantine examination reports from the country of origin; or, testing facilities from the country of origin can send quarantine exam results directly to the target destination.
However, the prerequisite for these three measures is a blood test showing that the cat or dog had received a rabies shot 180 days before an application for waiver is filed, Hsu said.
Rabies has an incubation period of 180 days.
Current regulations stipulate that to import canines and felines from regions with known rabies infections, importers must present documentation that the animals had been vaccinated 90 days before their scheduled date of arrival, Hsu said.
Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Estonia, the UK, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, the Svalbard Islands, Hawai and Guam are the only countries or areas without known cases of rabies infections.
Importers must also apply for an import permit 20 days before the animal’s arrival, Hsu said, adding that the animal must be quarantined for seven days after arrival.
Cats and dogs imported from Japan would only need to present official documents prior to their arrival in Taiwan, he said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data