(PNA photo by Joan Bondoc)
MANILA – Authorities seized smuggled frozen meat products worth PHP35 million in an operation in Meycauayan City, Bulacan on Tuesday.
In a statement Wednesday, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said the products were discovered in two makeshift cold storage facilities inside the Meycauayan Industrial Subdivision in Barangay Pantoc.
BOC-Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) director Verne Enciso said the joint operation was conducted in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Both Customs and agriculture inspectors found the bulk of spoiled frozen meat products such as pork feet, lamb and chicken skin concealed in piles of boxes, with others sealed in plastic wrappings.
Banned frozen meat products from Germany and India, as well as proof of reboxing the spoiled meat products were also discovered.
A thorough investigation is underway to probe deeper into the re-boxing operations.
“The Department of Agriculture's Inspectorate and Enforcement (DA-IE) and the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) also did an initial evaluation of the meat products and, based on the physical appearance and foul odor thereof, the said meat products are determined to be unfit for human consumption,” he said.
The BOC, meanwhile, noted that the implementation of a Letter of Authority (LOA) was also made during the joint inspection.
“Since the owners or building administrator were not present during the service and implementation of the Letter of Authority (LOA), the raiding team proceeded to the subdivision’s homeowners’ association to effect the substituted service thereof," Enciso added.
Meanwhile, DA-IE chief Assistant Secretary James Layug assured that the storage warehouses will be shut down while its owners will be held accountable.
He said food safety remains to be one of the DA’s major concerns, and selling smuggled meat and fishery products in the market poses a danger to public health.
“The seized commodities lack the sanitary and phytosanitary clearance from the appropriate Food Safety Regulatory Agency (FSRA),” he said in a statement.
Layug said the DA will initiate prosecution against those found responsible pursuant to Republic Act 10611, the Food Safety Act of 2013, and Republic Act 10845, the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.
He said the initiative is in accordance with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to strengthen the DA’s fight against agricultural smuggling. (PNA)
