Border quarantine regulations apply to all animal and plant products, regardless of their quantity or usage, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said yesterday.
The agency made the statement after Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Li-shan (張麗善) said that border checks cannot fully block products carrying African swine fever (ASF) viruses from entering Taiwan, as “food products weighing less than 6kg and worth less than US$1,000 can be exempt from inspections.”
All animal and plant products from overseas are subject to the same quarantine regulations, regardless of their usage, quantity or monetary value, the agency said.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Importers should report animal and plant products for quarantine inspection and those that fail the inspection should be returned or destroyed, it said.
People who do not report their products and have them seized by authorities would be penalized, it added.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday inspected the quarantine process at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and said that manual border checks would be stepped up by 20 percent to safeguard the nation against ASF, based on the principle of “zero trust, zero tolerance.”
As of Friday, the average price of pork was NT$103 per kilogram, showing that the pork market has become more stable, he said, adding that 10 subsidies and support schemes for the industry were proposed in a Cabinet meeting on Friday and would soon be implemented.
Cho also specified several requirements that must be met in border quarantine inspections, such as making sure all X-ray machines are maintained in good condition and that the quarantine workforce is increased until it is sufficient.
Border authorities must ensure that quarantine detector dogs can perform their duty safely, and that all luggage, illegal objects or people crossing the border “have nowhere to hide,” he added.
The construction of the airport’s Terminal 3 North Concourse Gate Hall is on schedule and expected to be available for use by next month, Cho said.
Terminal 3 would adopt the same safety and quarantine standards as the other two terminals, he added.
Given that promoting tourism would be a key policy next year, travelers and transportation across borders would increase, Cho said, adding quarantine inspection measures must be tightened to ensure safety.
ASF is transmissible between animals and cannot be transmitted to humans, he said.
All samples collected over the past few days have tested negative for ASF, he said, calling on people to support domestic pig farmers and help stabilize the market.
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