Article 14
The central competent authority may publicly notify the quarantine requirements and take quarantine measures for the importation of regulated articles based on the pest status and the damage risk:
I. Prohibition;
II. Quarantine requirements; and
III. Post-entry quarantine.
The contents of quarantine requirements mentioned in preceding paragraph include regulated articles, species of pests, specific countries or districts, quarantine regulations, quarantine measures, and other related matters.
Governmental agencies (institutions), public enterprises, schools, legal persons or organizations registered under relevant laws may import and share regulated articles prohibited under subparagraph 1 of the first paragraph for purposes of experiment, research, education, legal deposit or exhibition by applying for approval from the central competent authority; the application process of importation and sharing, the way of declaration, safeguard isolation control measures, treatment method, and produce and retain usage record, report or monograph as well as the regulations of other relevant matters shall be promulgated by the central competent authority.
For the regulated articles with capability of propagation, if there is no import record from their export country or district, the export country, importer or agent shall submit the relevant data of pest risk assessment to the plant quarantine authority. The regulated articles must be approved by the plant quarantine authority before they may be imported. During risk assessment, the plant quarantine authority may ask the export country, importer or agent for supplementary data from the plant quarantine authority of the export country or send personnel to the export country for verification and confirmation. The cost for verification shall be borne by the export country or importers according to the relevant laws and regulations.
The application process, the required documents and data, and the methods and procedures of implementation for risk assessment shall be promulgated by the central competent authority.
The application process and procedure of post-entry quarantine, the requirement for the establishment of quarantine field sites, and other relevant regulations in relation to subparagraph 3 of the first paragraph shall be promulgated by the central competent authority.
|
Article 15
For the following articles, their importation is prohibited:
I. Pests;
II. Natural enemies, antagonists or competitors and other organisms used as biological control agent for controlling pest.
However, those which are assessed and confirmed to be free of pest risk by the central competent authority, and microbial agents that are imported in compliance with the regulations of the Agro-pesticides Management Act are not restricted as such;
III. Soil;
IV. Plants, plant products or other articles with soil; and
V. Packages or containers used by or harboring the articles mentioned in the previous four subparagraphs.
Governmental agencies (institutions), public enterprises, schools, legal persons or organizations registered under relevant laws with one of the following situations may apply to the central competent authority for importing the objects mentioned in the preceding paragraph:
I. For purposes of experiments, research, education or exhibition;
II. Legal deposit of articles that are mentioned in subparagraph 1 and 2 of the preceding paragraph;
III. Articles mentioned in subparagraph 1 and 2 of the preceding paragraph used for producing pest risk free products;
IV. Insect pollinators mentioned in subparagraph 1 of the preceding paragraph, or biological control agents mentioned in subparagraph 2 of the preceding paragraph that are used for field pollination or biological control, which have been assessed and approved by the central competent authority; and
V. In accordance with other specific purposes that are publicly notified by the central competent authority.
For articles that are imported in accordance with subparagraph 1 and 2 of the preceding paragraph for the purposes of experiment, research, education, legal deposit or exhibition, sharing is feasible with the approval of the central competent authority.
The application process, declaration, safeguard isolation control measures, treatment methods and production and retaining of usage record, report or monograph and regulations of other relevant matters regarding risk assessment for importation of those mentioned in the second paragraph and sharing mentioned in the preceding paragraph, shall be promulgated by the central competent authority.
|
Article 16-1
Plants or plant products that have been unloaded at or transshipped through the countries and districts declared by the central competent authority for prohibiting of entry or requiring taking related measures according to quarantine conditions in the first paragraph of Article 14, shall be approved by the plant quarantine authority before importation; if not, the plant quarantine authority shall conduct necessary treatments.
|
Article 17
The importer or its agent shall apply to the plant quarantine authority for quarantine of the regulated articles to be imported or transited before their arrival at the ports of entry. The said importer or agent shall not unwrap or move the said plants or plant products before completion of quarantine inspections.
Passengers or personnel of the vehicle, vessel, or aircraft carrying the regulated articles shall apply for plant quarantine upon arrival at the port of entry.
The regulated articles shall not be sent by mail; otherwise, the articles will be reshipment or destroyed. However, if any of the following situations occurs, such restrictions do not apply:
I. The regulated articles that are declared by the plant quarantine authority in accordance with the provisions in the first paragraph of Article 16 for exemption of the phytosanitary certificate.
II. Recipients of the regulated articles applied to the plant quarantine authority for approval of entry in advance.
The regulated articles that are imported by mail in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be packaged with a legible label indicating the content. Also, the postal authority shall cooperate with the plant quarantine authority to inform the recipient to apply for quarantine from the authority. The recipients who receive mails without quarantine certificates shall apply for quarantine from the plant quarantine authority immediately upon receiving them.
For regulated articles that are not for importation purposes but have entered and are stored in Free Trade Zones, the procedure of applying for quarantine and the requirement of documents may be simplified, and the protocol of the said simplification are to be promulgated by the central competent authority.
|
Article 19
If any pest is found in the imported regulated articles after quarantine inspection, the plant quarantine authority shall notify and request the importer or agent to disinfect, destroy or reship such regulated articles together with the packages and containers thereof within a prescribed time limit. If no such action is taken within the said time limit or if taking emergency measures is necessary, the plant quarantine authority shall directly dispose of the regulated articles, and the cost for such actions shall be borne by the importer.
The pest species mentioned in the preceding paragraph are limited to those declared by the central competent authority in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 14, or those that have not been confirmed to be present in the Republic of China.
|
Article 24
For the following situations, a fine ranging from NT$30,000 to NT$150,000 shall be imposed:
I.Violating the second paragraph of Article 9 by selling or relocating the plants;
II. Violating the order of restriction or prohibition under the first paragraph of Article 10;
III. Violating any measures mentioned in subparagraph 1 to 3 of the first paragraph of Article 11;
IV. Violating the third paragraph of Article 14 or the third paragraph of Article 15 by sharing the regulated articles without the approval of the central competent authority, or violating the related regulations for the declaration, safeguard isolation control measures, treatments and how to produce and retain of usage records, reports or monographs mentioned in the third paragraph of Article 14 or the fourth paragraph of Article 15.
V. Violating the related regulations of the procedure of post-entry quarantine and the requirements for the establishment of quarantine field sites promulgated in the fifth paragraph of Article 14.
VI. Importers or agents of the related articles who violate the first paragraph of Article 17, by not applying for quarantine, or unwrapping or moving the regulated articles before completion of quarantine inspection; the recipients of mails who violate the fourth paragraph of Article 17 by not applying to plant quarantine authority for quarantine.
VII. Owners or managers of vessels, vehicles, or aircrafts who violate Article 19-2 by bringing the residues of plants or plant products onto land.
If penalty is carried out pursuant to subparagraphs 1 to 3 of the preceding paragraph, the plants, plant products, pests, soils, and the packages, containers and cultivation media thereof shall be removed or destroyed within a prescribed time limit. If the said articles are not removed or destroyed within the time limit, the municipal or county (city) competent authority shall act to remove or destroy the said articles, and the cost for such actions shall be borne by the owners or management personnel.
If penalty is carried out pursuant to subparagraphs 4 to 6 of the first paragraph, the regulated articles and the packages, containers, cultivation media may be disinfected, destroyed, or treated directly by the plant quarantine authority or commissioned organizations as deemed necessary, and the cost for such actions shall be borne by the owners or management personnel.
If penalty is carried out pursuant to subparagraph 7 of the first paragraph, the plants or plant products shall be destroyed by the plant quarantine authority or commissioned organization, and the cost for such actions shall be borne by the owners or management personnel.
|
Article 25
A fine ranging from NT$10,000 to NT$50,000 shall be imposed on the particular violator if the violator is guilty of:
I. Evading, hindering, or refusing the execution of duties performed by plant protection or quarantine officers pursuant to Article 5 without an appropriate reason;
II. Violating the first paragraph of Article 8-1 and failing to conduct control measures pursuant to the notice or announcement by the municipal or county (city) competent authority;
III. Failing to report the pest status as required under the second paragraph of Article 8-1 without appropriate reason;
IV. Evading, hindering, or refusing the inspection of specific plant diseases and pests by the central competent authority pursuant to the first paragraph of Article 9 without an appropriate reason;
V. Owners or managers of the plants or plant products failing to conduct joint control measures prescribed by the central competent authority pursuant to subparagraph 4 of the first paragraph of Article 11; or VI.Violating the subparagraph 5 of the first paragraph of Article 11, moving out the plants or plant products which are not inspected or inspected but found not to be in compliance with relevant regulations.
If penalty is carried out pursuant to subparagraph 2 of the preceding paragraph, the municipal or county (city) competent authority may order the violators to improve within a prescribed time limit as deemed necessary, those who fail to improve beyond the time limit will be successively punished. For the owners of the management personnel who had been successively punished without improvement, the municipal or county (city) competent authority may control the pest risk of the plants or plant products on behalf of the violators as deemed necessary, and the cost for such actions shall be borne by the owners or management personnel.
|
Article 28
The third and fourth paragraphs of Article 17 as well as the first and third paragraphs of Article 24 that are related to the regulations mentioned in the fourth paragraph of Article 17 of this Act shall come into force one year after the promulgation date; the rest of this Act shall come into effect on the date of promulgation.
|