Taiwan will soon impose a cap on weekly air express shipments, to allow for more rigorous inspections, as part of its African swine fever (ASF) prevention efforts, according to the Customs Administration (CA).

The limits will be implemented with effect from December 1, and delivery companies will be told beforehand how many parcels they can import each week, so they make appropriate arrangements, a CA official said Saturday.

The cap will be adjusted weekly, based on the circumstances at the time, the official told CNA, without giving any estimate of the limit.

The decision was made after the ASF virus was found recently in meat products shipped by air from Vietnam, which led Taiwan’s Customs to expand its inspection to all incoming shipments from the Southeast Asian country, with effect from Aug. 23.

As part of the CA’s tighter prevention measures against ASF, it also decided that freight forwarders will no longer be allowed bulk clearance of air express consignments from high-risk ASF countries, starting in November.

The high-risk ASF countries named by the CA included Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, East Timor, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Bhutan.

The CA said that while bulk clearance of consignments expedites the Customs process, some items can go undetected by its X-ray scanners, therefore, that process must be phased out to close a smuggling loophole.

That will impose an increased workload on Customs officers, however, which is one of the reasons why a limit will be set on the number of express air shipments, starting in December, the CA said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel