2019-01-01 03:00FINES NOT WORKING: COA Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng said that increased fines had not curbed illegal meat imports, so more X-rays and dogs are needed
By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
The Council of Agriculture （COA） yesterday said it would propose installing additional X-ray devices and deploying more sniffer dogs to ensure that all luggage entering Taiwan is checked at customs as part of its efforts to keep African swine fever at bay.
The council on Dec. 18 increased fines for those found illegally bringing meat products through customs from areas affected by the disease to NT$200,000 （US$6,508） for first-time offenders, and between NT$500,000 and NT$1 million for repeat offenders.
However, customs officials still intercepted smuggled meat on 84 occasions from Dec. 18 to Sunday, including 26 pork products from Chi
momo 購物na, council data showed.
COA Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng （黃金城） said that as the fines have not effectively curbed illegal imports, the council would propose adding X-ray devices and dogs at customs to make sure that every piece of luggage is checked.
If its proposal is passed on Friday at a meeting of the Cabinet’s Emergency Operations Center established to oversee efforts to prevent African swine fever from entering Taiwan, the additions would be deployed in the second half of this month at the earliest, Huang said.
To highlight the importance of its efforts, the council would produce a film reviewing the effect that foot-and-mouth disease had 21 years ago, when nearly 4 million pigs had to be culled, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Director-General Feng Hai-tung （馮海東） said, adding that the bureau is seeking a budget of NT$100 million from the Executive Yuan.
Meanwhile, the council said that crab meat was not known to transmit the African swine fever virus, so it does not have to undergo quarantine measures at customs.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily newspaper on Sunday reported that crabs might be a way through for the virus, despite the council’s efforts.
A Kaohsiung-based freight company received a box of crabs — some living and some dead — from Jiangsu Province in China, the report said.
Company employees said there was no quarantine documentation with the delivery, raising questions over whether customs officials were treating crab meat less seriously than pork products, despite the threat posed by the African swine fever outbreak i
momo購物商城n China, according to the report.
However, the bureau said that imports of crabs do not need to go through quarantine measures, as the meat, living or dead, would not transmit the virus or other common animal diseases.
As crab meat is
momo購物網商城for human consumption, importers still need to abide by Ministry of Health and Welfare regulations governing imports of aquatic animals, the bureau said.
Additional reporting by CNA
新聞來源：
TAIPEI TIMES
E3A3540F08149096
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