Taiwan has warned that anyone bringing in pork or pork products from Thailand will be heavily fined after African swine fever (ASF) was confirmed in the kingdom.
Taiwan's Central Emergency Operations Centre (CEOC) said anyone trying to bring in pork or pork products from Thailand at airports and seaports would be fined NT$200,000 (241,000 baht), the Central News Agency reported on Tuesday night.
Violaters could be denied entry into the country and deported, it added.
The warning was issued after the Department of Livestock Development of Thailand on Tuesday detected a ASF case in a slaughterhouse in Nakhon Pathom. Thai authorities had repeatedly denied an ASF outbreak and previously attributed most farm pig deaths to another viral disease called porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome.
In December, the CEOC found sausages from Thailand contaminated with ASF, but the Thai department claimed the contamination could be due to pork smuggled into the country as no case of ASF was discovered in Thailand.
Thailand bans swine exports from last Thursday to April 5 in an attempt to resolve the soaring prices of porks in the country.