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.
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.