With the Lunar New Year holiday approaching, the government urged people not to bring in pork products from outside the country to prevent an outbreak of African swine fever, citing the case of a retired teacher who was fined for undeclared ham sushi.
On Dec. 15 last year, a court denied an appeal by the former teacher, surnamed Yang (楊), who was fined NT$200,000 for contravening quarantine regulations.
Yang had brought a roll of sushi containing ham she had not declared at a quarantine checkpoint when returning with her family from Hong Kong in July last year.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
She agreed to pay the fine in installments of NT$10,000 per month, as she was retired without another source of income.
Yang said she and her daughter made the trip to Hong Kong Disneyland Resort to help alleviate the symptoms of her daughter’s panic disorder, but it instead added to her woes after she was caught with the ham sushi.
The African Swine Fever Response Center said that about 10 percent of Chinese pork products have tested positive for the African swine fever virus.
It urged people to refrain from bringing any animal or plant-based products through customs.
Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Deputy Director-General Hsu Jung-pin (徐榮彬) said that Taiwan maintains a rigorous screening process and inspections to prevent African swine fever from spreading to Taiwan.
The government would also inspect hog farms that use leftovers as swine feed to ensure they are boiling the leftovers before feeding the pigs, Hsu said.
Between 2018 and Jan. 15, customs inspected 6,795 pork items, of which 639 tested positive for the virus, he said.
Of the contaminated pork items, 529, or 83 percent, originated from China, indicating it is a significant risk vector for the virus to enter Taiwan, he added.
Acting Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) yesterday said that Coast Guard Administration patrols over the past month have found a potential gap for pork to be smuggled into Taiwan overseas.
The ministry would be working with the Financial Supervisory Commission to trace illegal purchases and the importation of foreign pork online, Chen said.
Additional reporting by Yang Yuan-ting
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