A central emergency operation center to oversee efforts to prevent African swine fever contagion is to open today, while fines for people caught illegally importing pork products from virus-affected areas have been increased, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday.
As most Chinese provinces have reported cases and illegal imports of Chinese meat products continue to be intercepted by customs agents, the government will step up prevention measures, the council said.
Premier William Lai (賴清德) and other officials are to attend the center’s first meeting today, COA Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城) said.
Photo: CNA
Lai would also attend a nationwide drill simulating an outbreak, which was originally scheduled for Friday, but was postponed to Wednesday next week, Huang said.
On Friday, fines for people caught illegally importing meat products from any area increased from between NT$3,000 and NT$15,000 (US$97 and US$486) to between NT$10,000 and NT$1 million.
However, those found importing pork products from virus-affected areas face a fine of NT$50,000 for the first violation, NT$500,000 for the second and NT$1 million thereafter, Huang said.
Photo courtesy of Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine
Despite the higher fines, officials had intercepted 41 illegal meat imports since Friday, of which 15 were pork products from China or other affected areas, which prompted the council to revise the fines, Huang said.
From today, people face a fine of NT$200,000 for the first instance of illegal imports from affected areas and NT$1 million for subsequent breaches, Huang said.
While the council has said its data showed that most of those caught illegally importing meat products were Taiwanese, many of them were Chinese or Vietnamese spouses of Taiwanese traveling on Republic of China (ROC) passports, Huang said.
The council would ask airlines to increase inflight broadcasts of its policies in Vietnamese and boost policy promotion among local associations, he said.
Meanwhile, netizens have reported receiving pork products as “gifts” with online purchases in parcels delivered from China without being told that they would be included, Huang said.
People who receive such items must contact their local animal quarantine bureau to have them properly disposed of, not dump the products themselves, Huang said.
There is no penalty for failing to report such items, he said.
The council is working on ways to detect meat products in parcels at customs, he said.
If pork products carrying the virus are consumed by pigs, it could ruin the nation’s hog industry, the council has said.
It could take decades for the industry to recover, as there is no vaccine for the fatal disease, it has said.
Separately yesterday, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) accused China of mismanaging the outbreak.
China’s failure to bring the disease under control could deal a heavy blow to Taiwan’s hog industry, Chen said.
“The epidemic is a very serious matter,” he said, adding that Beijing has lost control of the situation.
“China has mismanaged the situation, which has forced Taiwan to step up management and inspection,” he said at a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee.
The MAC has asked Beijing three times to hold bilateral talks on measures to combat the disease, including banning e-commerce platforms from selling foreign pork products, with the latest request issued on Dec. 14, Chen said.
“However, the Chinese side has yet to respond,” he said, urging Beijing to set aside political considerations to fight the epidemic.
Additional reporting by CNA
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS