5 tons of illegally imported pork products seized in Bacolod port

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Authorities in Negros Occidental intercepted 5 tons of illegally imported pork products worth P500,000 at the Bacolod Real Estate and Development Corporation port here Wednesday afternoon, September 11.

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson led the Provincial African Swine Fever Task Force in checking the truckload of undocumented imported products from France that were shipped from Cebu.

(READ: African swine fever: Cebu bans live hog imports from Luzon)

“Because of vigilance, we were able to ask to open the van. It turned out, the products found inside has no documents,” the governor, chairman of the task force, said.

Following the scare of the disease in the previous months, the provincial government has stepped up its campaign to keep the province free from ASF. Because the virus is now present in two provinces in Luzon, the provincial government has intensified its security measures, particularly in ports.

Provincial Veterinarian Renante Decena said the recovered pork products and mechanically deboned meat were immediately burned and buried at the port following the inventory.

“We warned the unscrupulous traders not to violate the order of the government to protect the interest of the many, and the raisers,” he said.

Veterinarian Rezel Amacio of the Bureau of Animal Industry said the shipment was owned by a company called Amadeus and Sons, adding that Certificate of Condemnation was issued against them.

“During the inspection, the driver of the truck failed to show the shipping permit,” she said, adding the driver was inconsistent with his statement.

He first said that one ton of pork products was dropped off to Manapla town and that he was headed to Iloilo, she said. “When we checked with our counterparts in Cebu, the shipment was meant for Bacolod,” she added.

She also said they are validating if pork products were indeed dropped off at Manapla when they arrived in the port at Escalante City. – Rappler.com