Risk of heavy fines when bringing pork to Taiwan

According to CNA yesterday, Taiwanese authorities from the afternoon of February 15 began to check the luggage of 100% of passengers from Vietnam because of concerns about the spread of African swine fever (ASF). This measure was taken after Taiwan's Agricultural Commission (COA) confirmed that an ASF-positive item was brought from Vietnam. The pathogen was detected in a meatloaf of a Taiwanese passenger who flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Tainan on a flight on February 5. This passenger was fined 30,000 TWD (VND 22.5 million) for not declaring the quarantine. Taiwan authorities are not currently on the list of countries with ASF but on the list of countries with foot and mouth disease.

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Taiwanese customs officers began to randomly check pork products brought by customers from Vietnam from November 2018, and the February 5 crop was the first case detected positive for ASF virus, forcing the authorities to the host must tighten control. According to the Taipei Times, Taiwan has informed the Vietnamese side and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) about the case positive for ASF. COA leader Tran Cat Trong said that the inspection and screening of luggage of all passengers from Vietnam will last until Taiwan concludes that there is no ASF outbreak in Vietnam. In addition, Taiwanese authorities suspect that the pathogen discovered this time is of Chinese origin because it contains a gene sequence similar to the ASF virus in China.

Responding to Thanh Nien on February 16, Mr. Nguyen Anh Dung, Chairman of the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, said that because Vietnam is not on the list of countries with ASF epidemic, the incident on February 5 was an isolated case. Therefore, it is reasonable for the Taiwanese government to deploy inspection measures at the airport while waiting for the conclusion of the authorities. “The office has reported to the Department of Animal Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs to carry out epidemic prevention work, especially when Vietnam borders China, it is difficult to control the ASF outbreak. At the same time, the office recommends that passengers from Vietnam to Taiwan absolutely do not bring products from pork, including canned products," Dung emphasized.

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According to the regulations on prevention of zoonotic diseases of the Taiwan Animal and Plant Health Quarantine Bureau, people who bring pork products from a country or area that have not been declared as an endemic area without foot and mouth disease. Failure to declare quarantine upon entry will result in a fine of TWD 30,000 for the first violation. The fine increases to 10 times for the second time and the maximum is 1 million TWD for repeated violations. Particularly for passengers from China, where ASF is believed to be spreading on a large scale, the fine for the first violation is 200,000 TWD and a maximum of 1 million TWD.