111
Visitor to Taiwan hit with $9,000 fine over 'roast chicken and pork combo' lunch box
(www.abc.net.au)
this post was submitted on 27 May 2024
111 points (88.8% liked)
World News
39350 readers
3395 users here now
A community for discussing events around the World
Rules:
-
Rule 1: posts have the following requirements:
- Post news articles only
- Video links are NOT articles and will be removed.
- Title must match the article headline
- Not United States Internal News
- Recent (Past 30 Days)
- Screenshots/links to other social media sites (Twitter/X/Facebook/Youtube/reddit, etc.) are explicitly forbidden, as are link shorteners.
-
Rule 2: Do not copy the entire article into your post. The key points in 1-2 paragraphs is allowed (even encouraged!), but large segments of articles posted in the body will result in the post being removed. If you have to stop and think "Is this fair use?", it probably isn't. Archive links, especially the ones created on link submission, are absolutely allowed but those that avoid paywalls are not.
-
Rule 3: Opinions articles, or Articles based on misinformation/propaganda may be removed. Sources that have a Low or Very Low factual reporting rating or MBFC Credibility Rating may be removed.
-
Rule 4: Posts or comments that are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, anti-religious, or ableist will be removed. “Ironic” prejudice is just prejudiced.
-
Posts and comments must abide by the lemmy.world terms of service UPDATED AS OF 10/19
-
Rule 5: Keep it civil. It's OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It's NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
-
Rule 6: Memes, spam, other low effort posting, reposts, misinformation, advocating violence, off-topic, trolling, offensive, regarding the moderators or meta in content may be removed at any time.
-
Rule 7: We didn't USED to need a rule about how many posts one could make in a day, then someone posted NINETEEN articles in a single day. Not comments, FULL ARTICLES. If you're posting more than say, 10 or so, consider going outside and touching grass. We reserve the right to limit over-posting so a single user does not dominate the front page.
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
Lemmy World Partners
News [email protected]
Politics [email protected]
World Politics [email protected]
Recommendations
For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/
- Consider including the article’s mediabiasfactcheck.com/ link
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
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.