Tis the season for a spike in illegal pork smuggling, especially across East Asian countries. As the Lunar New Year approaches on Jan. 22, Taiwan officials remind people not to bring pork into the country, including Cantonese ‘chicken cakes,’ which actually contain pork.
In 2022, the amount of illegal pork products brought into Taiwan by international travelers was four times more than in 2021, the Taipei Times reports.
Officials say 789 kg of pork products were illegally imported into Taiwan last year. Of that, 451 kg was intercepted at Chunghwa Post’s international mail department, down 22.4% from 2021, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung, who heads an operation center task force focused on preventing the spread of African swine fever (ASF), said in the article. Additionally, 202 kg of pork products were brought in by international travelers, while 115 kg were delivered from abroad using air express services, a decline of 74.5%. Only 21 kg was sent through marine transport services or other services.
On May 20, 2021, the Taiwan government banned imports of pork products from regions affected by ASF, 324 international parcels containing pork products have been seized, 138 of which arrived from Hong Kong and 115 of which came from from mainland China, Taipei Times wrote.
As well, since October 2020, the government has prohibited pig farms with fewer than 199 pigs from using food waste to feed pigs. Eight farms were fined in 2020 and 26 farms were fined in 2021 for contravening the policy. Pig farmers face a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$3 million for contravening the Feed Control Act if they are found using food waste to feed their animals. They face additional NT$50,000 to NT$1 million fine for contravening the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases if food waste is found on their farms.
From Aug. 27, 2020 through December 2022, 4,924 samples gathered from illegally imported pork products seized from passengers, airport disposal boxes, express delivery services, postal parcels and freight services were collected from imported meat products, 428 of which tested positive for ASF, with 341 from China, 75 from Vietnam and 12 from Thailand.
Read more about ASF on PorkBusiness.com.
