Meat products entering Taiwan, China from China tested positive for African swine fever today in a seventh case; as of today, seven cases of African swine fever virus have been detected, with the meat products coming from Shenyang, Harbin, Chongqing, Macao, China, Fujian and other places. Huang Chin-cheng, deputy chairman of the Council of Agriculture, explained that four of the seven cases were concentrated in December, which shows that Chinese meat products have already been comprehensively contaminated by the virus. "This is a very dangerous signal." The African swine fever epidemic has already spread to 23 provinces in China, and he called on compatriots not to bring meat products back to Taiwan again.
He further criticized the situation as completely out of control in China: "It is evident that pig farmers did not proactively report when they found swine fever, there were no veterinarians checking at pre-slaughter and post-slaughter stages, all pork, whether infected or not, was sent for processing, and the government did not manage it either."
Today (the 21st) at 13:40, a Chinese traveler surnamed Huang entering from China was caught illegally carrying 0.3 kg of fresh pork filling (Photo source / Taipei Customs) It Is Best Not to Bring Canned Goods at All As for whether lard and canned goods can be brought back into the country, Peng Ming-hsing, section chief of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, explained that products already rendered into lard are not restricted under relevant regulations and can enter the country without issue. As for canned goods, he explained that according to international standards, cans meet sterilization standards, so organisms inside are certainly all killed; therefore, as long as products meet the requirements for canned goods, they can enter Taiwan. However, ordinary people are unclear about the definition of canned goods and easily bring them back by mistake, so he still recommended that it is best not to bring any at all.
Is Laboratory Testing Capacity Sufficient? Council of Agriculture: No Problem Deng Ming-chung, acting section chief of the Animal Health Research Institute, said that Taiwan uses viral nucleic acid for testing; testing meat products takes two days for a negative result and four days for a positive result, while clinical specimens, because blood and feces can be collected directly, take only one day.
However, as the African swine fever epidemic becomes more severe and people from the two sides travel more frequently during the Lunar New Year period, is the testing capacity of laboratories in Taiwan sufficient to cope? Huang Chin-cheng stressed, "No problem." The Animal Health Research Institute can flexibly adjust personnel and test in groups. As for outside doubts that Taiwan's laboratories do not meet the validation of world reference laboratories, Deng Ming-chung responded that Taiwan has the ability to test African swine fever samples and has already conducted capability comparisons with world reference laboratories, and its testing capability is consistent with that of world reference laboratories.
Is Raising the Fine to 200,000 Effective? Huang Chin-cheng: More Education Is Still Needed As for whether raising the fine to 200,000 has achieved a deterrent effect, Huang Chin-cheng said it is not yet clear, and it must be extended over time to achieve results. He stressed that originally, regardless of whether an area is epidemic or non-epidemic, meat products cannot be carried back into the country, but people in Taiwan have not developed the habit, so education must continue so that they develop the habit of not bringing meat products in or out.
Huang Chin-cheng also pointed out directly that two months ago he had already said African swine fever in China would get out of control, and this peak period is predicted to last half a year to a year. "Only after infected pig farms have all been burned down and the number of infected pigs decreases will the epidemic ease, but as long as pigs still exist, the virus will lurk in the environment at any time, merely temporarily suppressing the epidemic."
Council of Agriculture: "Some people just do not feel it; they only know after being fined." According to Council of Agriculture statistics, since the penalty amounts were raised on December 18, there have still been violations every day, including 9 cases on the 18th (2 fined 200,000, 6 fined 30,000, and 1 fined 10,000), 5 cases on the 19th (1 fined 200,000 and 4 fined 30,000), and 7 cases on the 20th, among which 2 were fined 200,000 (Chinese pork products), 4 were fined 30,000 (3 cases of Chinese poultry and beef, 1 case of Thai pork products), and 1 was fined 10,000 (Japanese dog and cat food); on the 21st, 1 new case was fined 200,000 (fresh Chinese pork filling).
Regarding people who were fined repeatedly saying they did not know they could not bring meat products back into the country, Huang Chin-cheng said that this had already been promoted for so long and also through television, print media and other channels. "Some people just do not feel it; they only know after being fined." Currently, all flights arriving in Taiwan also carry promotions, broadcast in Chinese, English and Vietnamese. He once again stressed that compatriots must absolutely not bring meat products back into the country again.
The Council of Agriculture once again reminded the public not to bring meat products when entering the country, and not to buy foreign meat products online for shipment to Taiwan; violators will face heavy penalties, so do not test the law. Complete epidemic prevention information can be found on the website of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine.
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