CNA file photo

Taipei, Nov. 15 (CNA) The Taiwan government has asked all e-commerce enterprises in the country to remove Chinese meat products from their websites, as part of an effort to prevent the spread of African swine fever (ASF) from China to Taiwan, Deputy Minister of the Council of Agriculture Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said Thursday.

"The Council of Agriculture (COA) has notified all e-commerce platforms, including PC Home, Yahoo and Shopee, of the ban," Chen said at a weekly Cabinet meeting, calling for cooperation between the government and private sector.

In response, Shopee said it has removed more than 2,000 Chinese meat products from its website and has announced the ban on all its e-commerce platforms.

Meanwhile, Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) chief Hwung Hwung-hweng (黃煌煇) said in a legislative hearing earlier Thursday that he will resign if the ASF virus enters Taiwan via smuggled products coming in by sea.

At the hearing, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Director-General Lee Chung-wei (李仲威) said his agency has been conducting regular patrols and has not found any boats carrying live pigs or pork from China.

According to the COA's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, since an outbreak of ASF in China in early August, 65 cases have been reported across 17 provinces, cities and areas there.

(By Huang Li-yun and Flor Wang)
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