The Ministry of Agriculture on Monday warned against bringing pork products into the country, as it enters peak season for imports from countries affected by African swine fever.
Mid-Autumn Festival sees more imports of pork products such as savory mooncakes than any other time of year, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency Director-General Chiou Chwei-jang (邱垂章) told reporters after a meeting on the nation’s response to the deadly disease affecting pigs.
From 2018 to the end of last month, 6,110 pork products had been seized at the border, 554 of which tested positive for the disease, agency data showed.
Photo: Taipei Times
Of them, 450 were from China, 87 from Vietnam, 16 from Thailand and one from Malaysia.
A quarter of all pork brought from China has tested positive for the disease, showing that the situation there remains serious, the agency said.
Most seized products were either brought in luggage or shipped in the mail, totaling 734kg and 718kg respectively since last year.
Another 195kg was sent over air express mail, and 43kg arrived on sea freighters or other methods.
A total of 1,446 travelers had been fined NT$200,000 each for bringing illegal pork products, 398 of whom were foreign nationals denied entry after being unable to pay immediately, the agency said.
In the first eight months of this year alone, 488 fines were issued and 68 travelers denied entry, up slightly from the 444 fines issued during the same period in 2019, the agency said.
However, the number of fines issued per 10,000 travelers had decreased to 2.93 from 3.57 in 2019, showing that education efforts have been moderately successful, it added.
Since August 2018, African swine fever has spread to 17 countries in Asia, and more recently has been detected in Sweden, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina in Europe.
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