Avoid importing overseas meat online during Mid‑Autumn to guard Taiwan's pig industry.

As the Mid‑Autumn Festival approaches, families across Taiwan begin preparing for reunion dinners, moon‑cake tastings, and barbecues. While this is a time for warmth and togetherness, it also represents a critical period for the country’s border‑health security. On a special day, the Immigration Agency of the Ministry of the Interior issued a public reminder that citizens should not relax vigilance against international animal‑disease threats such as African swine fever. In particular, traditional processed foods containing meat—mooncakes with meat fillings, dried meat, sausages, and other similar items—are highly susceptible to carrying viruses. If these products are inadvertently brought in or mailed into the country, they could inflict devastating damage on Taiwan’s hard‑won domestic pig‑raising industry and the broader economy.

African swine fever has wreaked havoc worldwide for several years, severely damaging livestock sectors and causing sharp fluctuations in meat prices. Taiwan is one of the few Asian countries that has successfully kept the disease out of its borders, and the public remains vigilant. During the Mid‑Autumn Festival, overseas friends often exchange gifts, and a wide variety of mooncakes, egg‑yolk pastries, and meat‑filled pastries circulate frequently. These seemingly ordinary festive foods can become invisible blind spots in disease prevention. Travelers who overlook ingredient labels or attempt to smuggle prohibited items risk unknowingly becoming vectors for disease spread.

To protect domestic public‑health safety, the government has intensified cross‑agency cooperation in recent years, combining the efforts of customs, quarantine, police, and immigration authorities. Strict inspections and public‑education campaigns are carried out at international airports, seaports, and mail‑transfer centers. The Immigration Agency, on the front lines dealing with frequent international travelers, continually reinforces messaging across multiple channels, urging people not to bring in or purchase un‑quarantined meat products from abroad or through online shopping. According to statistics from relevant agencies, the number of travelers penalized for violations and the total number of cases have been declining year by year. This trend not only demonstrates the effectiveness of border‑inspection mechanisms but also reflects a marked improvement in the overall disease‑prevention awareness among Taiwanese citizens.

Nevertheless, disease‑control work is like rowing against a current; a single misstep can undo progress. The Immigration Agency again urges both citizens and inbound travelers to observe all relevant health‑regulation requirements while enjoying the festive atmosphere. Travelers should refrain from purchasing or carrying unknown meat products when traveling abroad or returning home, and should not use cross‑border e‑commerce to ship meat products back to Taiwan. Only through sustained public vigilance and strict compliance with health‑protection rules can Taiwan celebrate the festival safely while safeguarding its food supply and ensuring the long‑term sustainability of its agricultural economy, thereby preserving the hard‑earned gains in disease control.

(Source: Central News Agency)