The Mid-autumn Festival will soon be here. It is predicted that there would be more instances of travelers transporting, transmitting, and bringing in prohibited things for animal quarantine based on statistics from past years. National Immigration Agency requests public assistance in bolstering the promotion of pertinent rules to migrant workers, foreign spouses, foreigners, foreign students, etc. arriving to Taiwan in order to effectively prevent the invasion of African swine fever.
防堵非洲豬瘟入侵，邊境檢疫全年無休。圖／翻攝自動植物防疫檢疫署臉書
Four initiatives need to be strengthened in order to prevent the spread of African swine fever.
1. Food containing meat, other things requiring animal or plant quarantine, and meals served on aircraft should not be brought into the country. If you unintentionally carry them, you should either declare them at the customs of entrance or dispose of them in a disposal box before entering the nation.
2. In order to avoid punishment, kindly advise your friends and family members overseas not to send Taiwan any animal quarantine goods that contain pork products (such as meat-containing mooncakes) by express delivery or postal parcel.
3. If you are discovered importing pig products into the country without authorization from a nation (or region) where the African swine fever outbreak occurred during the previous three years, you will be fined NT$200,000 for the first offense and NT$1,000,000 for the second.
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine of the Executive Yuan will send violators to National Immigration Agency and the entrance would be denied if they do not have Taiwan residency status and are unable to pay the fine of NT$200,000 immediately.
4. The recipient will be fined NT$200,000 for the first offense and confirmed after being seized, and a hefty fine of NT$1 million for the second offense or more if they ship imported pork goods by mail from areas where African swine fever exists.
