The government is likely to purchase air guns from a Chinese manufacturer to control the invasive green iguana population that is damaging crops, an industry association said.
The Ministry of Agriculture last year proposed the use of air guns to help cull iguanas in the wild, which are estimated to number up to 200,000, and announced last month that it hopes to cull 120,000 of the invasive animals this year.
However, the law restricts domestic manufacturers to producing air guns with an output of less than 2 joules, and prohibits the manufacture of high-kinetic-energy air guns exclusively for export or for the control of harmful species.
Photo: Liao Chia-ning, Taipei Times
The Taiwan Airsoft and Airgun Association in 2016 had petitioned for a “special permit to open up the manufacturing and export of toy guns with a capacity of more than 3 joules.”
However, following discussions with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), the Executive Yuan at the time concluded that the law should remain unchanged out of a “consideration of maintaining public order,” and said the issue was “sensitive and risky.”
Whether regulations could be adjusted under special considerations would require joint discussion and evaluation involving the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection, the Industrial Development Administration (IDA), the National Police Agency (NPA) and other government agencies, the MOEA said.
Given the restrictions on the domestic market and the complexity involved with easing them, the government was likely to purchase airsoft guns from China to deal with the iguana problem, the association said.
The Forestry Bureau previously sought to work with domestic air gun manufacturers to deal with the removal of the invasive African sacred ibis, but faced similar difficulties and resorted to purchasing air guns from China, it said.
“As long as the NPA has concerns about public security, the discussion is unlikely to go anywhere,” it said, and called on the MOEA to refer to other countries’ regulations concerning air guns.
The IDA said that part of the reason for the regulations is that it must work with the NPA to manage the traceability of gun components, including those of air guns and toy guns.
Part of that process involved import controls and the requirement for manufacturers to provide codes for the key components of those guns, it said.
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