Christmas decorations marketed as “artificial,” such as trees and wreaths, might contain real plant materials, which must follow quarantine requirements to enter Taiwan, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said.
With Christmas approaching, many people are purchasing Christmas trees and wreaths online to decorate their homes.
However, some products ordered on overseas Web sites might contain prohibited items such as seeds, flowers or wood, the agency said.
Photo: CNA
Plant products must be processed in compliance with quarantine regulations and seeds, potted plants and live insects are not permitted to be imported to Taiwan, it said.
Many trees and wreaths marketed as “artificial” include real branches, leaves or pine cones, which must comply with quarantine regulations under the Plant Protection and Quarantine Act (植物防疫檢疫法), the agency said.
Pine cones and branches must be dried and processed, while wooden products must undergo treatment, such as staining or painting, to meet standards, it said.
If a buyer is unsure of the processing status of the product, it is best not to purchase it to avoid potential penalties, it added.
A person who illegally imports plants or related items can face penalties of up to three years in prison and fines of up to NT$150,000, it said.
Decorating vehicles for Christmas can also result in penalties, it said.
In other news, two vehicles decked out in brightly flashing Christmas lights were stopped by police officers in Kaohsiung late on Friday night.
Police stopped the vehicles after they drove through the intersection of Kongfong Road and Gueihua Road in Siaogang District (小港), fining each driver NT$1,800.
Under Article 16 of the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), unauthorized modifications to vehicle equipment, such as decorative lights, are subject to fines of NT$900 to NT$1,800, police said.
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Chinese wife of a Taiwanese, surnamed Liu (劉), who openly advocated for China’s use of force against Taiwan, would be forcibly deported according to the law if she has not left Taiwan by Friday, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said yesterday. Liu, an influencer better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), obtained permanent residency via marriage to a Taiwanese. She has been reported for allegedly repeatedly espousing pro-unification comments on her YouTube and TikTok channels, including comments supporting China’s unification with Taiwan by force and the Chinese government’s stance that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.” Liu
RSS