The detection rate of animal products illegally sold on e-commerce platforms on contravention of animal quarantine regulations declined to a record low of 0.03 percent last year, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said yesterday.
To prevent external animal or plant pests and diseases from entering Taiwan, the agency has since 2018 inspected imports of quarantine items, veterinary medicines and pesticides, it said.
More than 1.03 million commodities sold on online shopping sites were inspected last year — a growth of 8.8 percent compared with the 948,000 commodities inspected in 2023, the agency said.
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The detection rate of animal quarantine products fell to 0.03 percent last year from 0.06 percent in 2023, while the figure for plant quarantine products dropped to 0.02 percent from 0.04 percent over the same period, it said.
Detection rates of veterinary medicines and pesticides illegally imported and sold online also declined from 2023 to last year, the agency said.
The lowered detection rates showed that the agency’s clampdowns on illegal online commodities were effective in deterring sellers from bringing such products to shelves, it said.
All detected illegal quarantine products were reported to the e-commerce platforms for removal, the agency said, adding that the removal rate was 100 percent.
The number of meat products — such as rice dumplings or cured meat — illegally acquired from epidemic areas via online shopping outlets usually surges around Dragon Boat Festival, it said.
Illegal rice dumpling imports seized around the festival accounted for 86 percent of the whole year in 2023 and 56 percent last year, it added.
As of May 13, 52 cases of illegally imported pork products, including four rice dumpling imports, have been detected this year, the agency said, adding that most of them were from China, an epidemic region for African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease.
All these illegal commodities have already been removed from e-commerce platforms to block external epidemics, it said.
The agency has obtained approval from the Financial Supervisory Commission to access information on the bank accounts of wrongdoers offering dummy accounts for such unlawful trade to identify sellers, the agency said.
People who illegally import pork products in contravention of the Act on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Disease (動物傳染病防治條例) would face a jail sentence of up to seven years with a fine of up to NT$3 million (US$100,237), it said.
They could also be fined NT$200,000 for the first time and NT$1 million for each time thereafter, if they have illegally imported pork products via the mail, it added.
Those who advertise illegally imported quarantine products on the Internet could be fined up to NT$150,000, the agency said.
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