Taiwan has increased its fines on pork products brought into the country from Singapore after the city-state became the 17th African swine fever (ASF)-affected country in Asia, Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operation Center for ASF said in a statement Friday.

Singapore identified ASF in a wild boar carcass found in the northwestern part of the city-state on Tuesday and reported the case to the World Organization for Animal Health on Thursday, the center said.

The incident suggested that ASF is still spreading in Asia, and those who are caught bringing pork products from Singapore into Taiwan will now face heavy fines, the center said.

According to the statement, Taiwan has listed all Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore, as high-risk areas for ASF since 2019. Pork products from those countries have been banned, and those caught bring in pork items from Singapore were fined NT$10,000.

With the new discovery of the ASF case, the fines on travelers bringing in pork products from Singapore were increased starting Friday to NT$200,000 for their first offense and NT$1 million for subsequent offenses.

Travelers caught with pork products will be repatriated if they cannot pay the fine on-site, the center warned.

People caught trying to import pork items from Singapore will face the same penalties.

The virus does not harm humans but can be fatal to pigs and could devastate the country’s pig farming industry, which is valued at more than NT$170 billion, the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture has said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel