Chunghwa Post Chairman Wei Chien-hung (魏建宏) yesterday said that the company on Wednesday intercepted 25 packages containing processed meat products from China and would work with quarantine officials to ensure that no such products from areas affected by African swine fever would enter the country.
Wei made the statement at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which was reviewing the company’s budget for fiscal year 2019.
Lawmakers asked how the company has been assisting quarantine officials to block imports of processed meat products following the outbreak of the disease in China.
The products intercepted on Wednesday were either returned to the sender or destroyed at the port of entry, Wei said.
So far, nobody has been fined for receiving packages containing meat products from China, he said.
Prior to Wednesday, the postal company intercepted 10 to 20 packages containing meat products per day, he said.
Sniffer dogs have been dispatched to detect such packages, Chunghwa Post said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsiao Bih-khim (蕭美琴) said that a netizen had complained that some flights from Hong Kong were serving rice with pork chops.
Hsiao asked how airports should be handling leftovers from meal and whether the government could require international flights entering the nation to not serve pork, particularly flights from China.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chi Wen-jong (祁文中) said that leftovers are destroyed.
“Flight carriers to and from areas affected by African swine fever should not be serving pork,” Chi said. “As to whether the government can ask international flights to stop serving pork, we would ask the Civil Aeronautics Administration [CAA] to gather information on the matter.”
Caterers for in-flight meals should follow the regulations laid out by the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, the CAA said, adding that legitimate environmental technology companies should handle leftovers after gaining the approval of local environmental authorities.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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