Kaohsiung fines Kerry TJ Logistics for swine fever prevention violations

高雄市因嘉里大榮物流違反豬瘟防治規定處以罰鍰

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As Taiwan grapples with an outbreak of African swine fever, Kerry TJ Logistics was fined by the Kaohsiung Department of Health for failing to follow epidemic-prevention measures, per UDN.

The company, which operates a large fleet of delivery trucks, was accused of transporting meat suspected of being infected with African swine fever, delaying the submission of delivery manifests, and falsely claiming several delivery vehicles were not equipped with GPS tracking devices, UDN reported.

The violations were noted on Oct. 23, the day after Kaohsiung implemented stricter rules to track pork shipments and require delivery vehicles to be disinfected between deliveries, per UDN. A Kerry truck was found to have carried 674 items, including refrigerated meat products, which were distributed across 12 districts in Kaohsiung.

Officials initially traced a shipment of contaminated pork from Changhua County that the Kerry truck brought to Kaohsiung. After the shipment was identified, the driver failed to cooperate promptly with inspectors, resulting in an initial fine of NT$30,000 (US$970).

A subsequent investigation found the driver had flouted regulations for logging deliveries of multiple frozen meat products. A second truck was also inspected, and the company failed to confirm that both vehicles had functional GPS systems, UDN said.

On Sunday, the Kaohsiung Department of Health said the company would be fined an additional NT$3 million (US$97,250) and ordered to suspend operations in Kaohsiung for a week. The case was forwarded to the District Prosecutors Office for potential criminal charges, per UDN.

The city government will restrict vehicle movements at Kerry’s logistics centers in Kaohsiung and require all staff to submit pledges regarding any recent contact with pig farms or pork vendors. Staff will also be prohibited from contact with livestock farms for at least 20 days pending the investigation.