Premier Su Tseng-chang says that people receiving packages containing illegal meat products will be punished. Su’s words on Monday come as the government steps up efforts to keep African swine fever out of the country ahead of the Lunar New Year.
African swine fever is a deadly and highly contagious disease affecting domestic and feral pigs. Taiwan has adopted tough measures to keep the disease out of the country, fearing that a breakout would wreak havoc on Taiwan’s pork industry, which is worth US$7.2 billion.
African swine fever poses no threat to humans because it cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans.
Su says that right now, African swine fever affects 14 countries near Taiwan. Taiwan and Japan are the only countries in the region that have successfully kept the disease out.
However, Su says that packages containing meat products continue to arrive from abroad, with several testing positive for African swine fever. Su says authorities will punish recipients of such packages to deter people from ordering meat products from overseas.