Customs alerts PH ports against entry of meat from African swine fever-infected countries
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Tue, 08 Jan 2019 10:34:05 +0000
THE Bureau of Customs (BoC) alerted all its ports nationwide against the entry of pork and meat products that came from countries where there was an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) virus.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero on Tuesday issued the order to all heads of ports and sub-ports of the bureau to protect the country’s swine industry.
Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol sacked the entire Bureau of Animal Industry’s (BAI) quarantine team at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for not instituting his order to install footbaths as a form of protection against the ASF virus.The DA came out with a memorandum order in August 2018 that imposed a ban on the entry of pork and pork-based products from at least 13 countries, namely: Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czec Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russsia, South Africa, Ukraine and Zambia.
In September and October 2018, cases of pork meat products contamination have been recorded in Korea and Japan through dumplings and hotdogs products.
According to the BAI, an outbreak of the virus can affect the 40 million plus live hogs/pigs in the Philippines and can destroy the P2-billion swine industry in the country.
To safeguard against an epidemic, the BoC and the BAI created an inter-agency task force and ordered Customs frontliners to be vigilant against the ASF.
Guerrero directed all port collectors and other concerned Customs officials to coordinate closely with regulating agencies to secure the borders against entry and exit of prohibited, regulated goods.
Guerrero said that all importations of pork meats and meat products should closely scrutinize and be accompanied by import permit or the sanitary and phyto-sanitary import clearance before they were qualified for release in all ports.
The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) said previously that based on documents obtained from the Customs bureau, more than one million kilos of Belgina port entered into the country from October to November 2018.
It expressed fear over the impact of the meat importation from Belgium on the local swine industry.
Customs spokesman Erastus Sandino Austria quickly assured the group, however, that there was nothing to worry about, saying that “per communication from DA, Belgium is not included in the banned countries.”
Austria confirmed that the pork meat from Belgium did arrive at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) from August to November during the time the DA issued the ban.
The DA, for its part, said that even as the Belgian meats arrived after the release of the memorandum order banning meats from Belgium and other countries, their slaughter date was before August 25, 2018. WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL
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