Taiwan’s customs officials have issued a fine of NT$200,000 ($9,369) to a traveller for attempting to bring a lunch box containing pork into the country.
The Indonesian national had arrived from Hong Kong on April 30 when a quarantine dog sniffed out the “roast chicken and pork combo”, said the Taiwanese Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency.
The traveller was reportedly unable to pay the fine and deported.
Taiwan introduced fines of NT$200,000 for bringing pork products to the island from countries affected by African swine fever (ASF) following an outbreak in China in 2018.
Fines increase to NT$1 million for subsequent breaches of quarantine.
A better headline:
“Visitor to Taiwan attempts to break biosecurity law and is hit with a fine”
I mean, that headline implies intentionality, no? I doubt the guy knew that his lunch would get him slapped with a $10k fine.
I know I don’t Google every single item in my bag to make sure that something like the type of cotton my socks are made of doesn’t get me thrown in jail.
Anywhere with a biosecurity law has signs posted in the most popular languages. And they’ll usually tell you not to bring food or animal products into the country in any form. And there are convenient trash cans in case you did bring something you need to get rid of before you hit customs.
The guy was from Indonesia and routed to Taiwan via Hong Kong. There’s a good chance there were no signs or announcements in a language he could understand.
Do you think he traveled to Taiwan without being able to speak any English or any Mandarin? Also there is a very solid chance that his flight company informed him of the rules as he was booking the flight. Also there is stuff like pictograms. Also Indonesia is majority Muslim country, so being part of a pork eating minority further increases the likeliness of being able to speak at least some other language.
I’ve been conditioned by companies too disregard all signs as they are 99% of the time only there to sell garbage and distract me…
Turning that instinct off when going through security screening, customs, or biosecurity is usually a good idea.
He wasn’t jailed though. He was sent home.
I mean, I don’t know that that changes my point at all, but if you’d really like me to rephrase it:
I don’t Google every item in my suitcase to make sure the the type of cotton my socks are made of won’t get me immediately deported and fined $10,000 that I don’t have.
If you travel internationally you really should scan a checklist for banned products. Especially around food and produce if you intend to bring any, there is always something on there.
I googled what not to bring into Taiwan, and this was the first link that came up: https://support.carousell.com/hc/en-us/articles/115008674167-List-of-Prohibited-Content-Taiwan
I can see pursuing that and not putting together that your lunch violates it. It has a big red text about animal product imports, but specifies that it’s about animals under quarantine, which makes it seem like more of a livestock restriction. Especially when it starts referencing legal codes instead of giving you any kind of meaningful explanation.
Combine that with the fact that the dude was Indonesian and routed through a Hong Kong airport, and I think it’s not wildly unreasonable that he would have missed the memo, even if he’d done his due diligence.
And I stand by that, even if he’d not done his due diligence, the punishment is excessive. This feels like more of a “we confiscate the offending material, slap you with a $500 fine, and send you on your way.”
It’s not like he was smuggling in livestock. He had the equivalent of a carnitas burrito from Chipotle in his bag.
I was I clined to agree with you until I got to section 5.
Fair. I’ll admit, I did start skimming at some point and you’re right, it’s pretty explicit in section 5 and I just didn’t see it.
It’s a wall of text though for sure. I probably would have skimmed it in the same way if I was looking to travel there, lol. Which is on me for sure, but I also wouldn’t expect the penalty for skimming the list and missing something to be ten grand out of my pocket, lol.
A chick got pulled for Subway: https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/forgotten-subway-sandwich-costs-australian-traveller-jessical-lee-2664-on-arrival-home-20220721-h2576l.html
So it’s not surprising to me for being hauled up over a lunch… I’m likely biased as Australia and NZ have long been very strict about biosecurity.
What does seem strange to me is that in Australia, if I bring in something they don’t like, they turf it and let me through?? No fine or anything. Admittedly I go through the “Declare” line, and am open about what I’m unsure about.
I don’t know how you ended up on a page for a Taiwanese marketplace and didn’t realise it.
But on the other hand the official customs page doesn’t have anything about animal products.
He tried to bring something in that he (maybe) didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to, got fined? Couldn’t pay it so he got refused entry and sent home.
This is normal behavior at entry points… and should probably serve to make you go “gee I need to check that” before flying to another country.
Check what though, that’s the issue. I would never think that my carnitas burrito from Chipotle might catch me a 10k fine.
And let’s be real, there’s no reason to put that “(maybe)” in there. Are you suggesting the dude was like, “Ahahaha, my dastardly plan is in motion! I’m going to snuggle 4oz of pork hidden away in my lunch, in direct violation of import controls. It’s so clever because I have absolutely no discernable reason I would want to do this on purpose!!!”
And what are you recommending me check? Google every item on the “ingredients” list on my coke zero to make sure I’m not smuggling red dye number 33 into a country that bans it?
Most civilized countries don’t fine people $10k for breaking laws that it would be very reasonable they have no idea exist.
No.
I’m saying he might have known that pork was banned and didn’t think it was that big of a deal. that happens all the time.
Except it’s actually a really big deal. The ban on pork, specifically, is to prevent ASF from entering the local herd.
Bio controls are one of the few ways to prevent spread; and it takes all of five minutes to check what is or isn’t banned.
Further more he could have declared it- “hey I have this pork lunch,” which would have led to a very different conversation.
It was literally called “chicken and pork combo.” Not exactly hidden.
You don’t have to google anything- except maybe to find their customs website where it’s all very plainly stated.
There are a dozen travel advisory warnings about pork products, specifically, and clearly stating that all pork is barred from entry.
More generally, meat and dairy products are almost always barred from entry (along with most every kind of ag product in general.)
I can’t find the pork ban on the link you provided. The closest I saw was “Quarantine inspection of animals, plants and their derived products” which isn’t a prohibition of anything in particular, and the link to the relevant authority literally goes to a dead page.
If you were able to find the quarantine inspection the. You probably found the Items subject to other laws
That literally says all live animals and product s from them are banned (with a few exceptions that wouldn’t apply.)
You don’t get to not spend five minutes checking customs before traveling to another country and pretend like you’re the victim for getting dinged.
Particularly since the customs agent is specifically asking if you have anything. “Do you have any food with you…?” (This would be your last chance to declare it).
Are we good with nail clippers now? In hand luggage
They take pork products particularly seriously. At least on their flag carrier, China Airlines, it would be incredibly hard to ignore the video played prior to landing with the talking pigs specifically pointing this out.
See: Hanlon’s Razor
Bioterrorist deported.