Taiwan's Customs Administration on Friday said it plans to tighten checks on all goods imported via air cargo from high-risk countries for African swine fever (ASF) beginning next year.
Each item sent via air freight, including express mail, will be inspected at its point of entry, the administration's deputy head Chen Yi-tsai (???) said during a press event organized by the Central Emergency Operations Center (CEOC) for ASF.
According to Chen, logistics companies that organize shipments to Taiwan from high-risk ASF countries will no longer be able to bulk clear consignments of goods -- a practice that expedites the clearance process.
Although Taiwan has managed to stop the disease from entering the country over the past three years, making it one of the only two Asian nations free of ASF, there are still potential loopholes that need to be addressed, he explained.
His remarks came after meat products smuggled from Vietnam by air were recently found to have ASF, prompting the relevant authorities to tighten the inspection of all goods coming from the Southeast Asian country from Aug. 23, which includes halting expedited clearance of goods.
Between Aug. 23 and Sept. 5, Chen said customs officials found 69 packages totaling 118 kilograms that contained pork products from China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, South Korea and the Philippines via air freight, which included express delivery.
Huang Chin-cheng (???), deputy head of the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture who is also vice chief of the COEC for ASF, said conventional customs inspections are no longer adequate.
An ASF outbreak could deliver a major blow to Taiwan's pork industry, which is valued at more than NT$170 billion (US$6.15 billion), Huang explained.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel