Appeal against fine for bringing meat into Taiwan rejected

Taipei, Feb. 6 (CNA) A woman's appeal against a NT$200,000 (US$6,382) fine imposed for bringing meat products into Taiwan and failing to apply for import quarantine inspection last year was rejected but she was given permission to pay the fine in installments, the administrative enforcement authority said Monday.

A retired teacher surnamed Yang (楊) was stopped at Taoyuan Airport trying to bring two long sushi rolls containing pork ham into Taiwan from Hong Kong in July last year and fined NT$200,000 by quarantine authorities due to the risk of African swine fever (ASF).

The case was transferred to the New Taipei Branch of the Ministry of Justice's Administrative Enforcement Agency the following month.

Yang filed an appeal against the fine arguing that she and her husband took their daughter who suffers from panic attacks to Hong Kong Disneyland Park last July in an attempt to help relieve stress, the New Taipei administrative enforcement authority said in a statement issued Monday.

According to Yang, when they were returning to Taiwan, her daughter expressed hunger at Hong Kong International Airport. As such, she bought two long sushi rolls -- one for her daughter to eat and one for other relatives in Taiwan.

Yang argued that she saw only seaweed and vegetables in the sushi rolls and did not know they contained meat until a sniffer dog detected the small red meat pieces.

Yang's appeal against the fine was rejected and she agreed to apply for payments in monthly installment payments of NT$10,000.

The New Taipei administrative enforcement authority approved her request to pay in installments, taking into account Yang's retired status and limited income.

As the Lunar New Year holiday is right around the corner, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) on Tuesday reminded the public not to bring meat products from other countries into Taiwan due to the risk of African swine fever (ASF).

ASF is found in 79 countries around the world and since the first reports of the virus in China in August 2018, there has been increased concern over the spread of the disease in Asia, Hsu Jung-pin (徐榮彬), deputy director-general of the MOA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (APHIA), said at a press conference Tuesday.

Taiwan and Japan are the only remaining East Asian ASF-free countries since the ASF outbreak erupted in China in 2018, Hsu added.

Between August 2018 and Jan. 15, 2024, of the 6,795 meat seizures tested, 639 came back positive for ASF, including 529, or 83 percent, from China, Hsu said, citing APHIA data.

The positive detection rate for the ASF virus reached a high of 9.89 percent among confiscated pork products from China, Hsu noted.

ASF is a high-threat foreign animal disease that is highly transmissible and results in up to 100 percent mortality in swine. Although the disease does not harm humans, it has the potential to hurt Taiwan's pork industry, according to the APHIA.