‘Maling’ products seized at Pier 1

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu Provincial African Swine Fever (ASF) Task Force seized boxes of imported canned goods at Pier 1 in Cebu City the other day.

The seizure was in compliance with the directive of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia that no meat and meat products coming from Asian Swine Flu countries can enter in any ports in Cebu without the necessary clearance from concerned government agencies.

These products made from processed pork meat are suspected to have come from an ASF virus infected countries that are banned from entering Cebu.

An estimated worth of P200,000 Chinese canned meat product with a brand name Maling were shipped from Bohol and were first intercepted by the Bureau of Animal Industry Veterinary Quarantine Station (BAI VQS) 7 and Cebu Port Authority when it arrived at Pier 1.

There were a total of 966 cans of 170 grams and 246 cans of 340 grams of Maling products.

These products reportedly first came from Cebu and were shipped to Bohol, but were ordered to be shipped back to Cebu.

Bohol Province has likewise implemented a 100-day temporary ban on meat and meat products without permits coming to its ports.

Port Police Sr. Insp. Adolfo Abregana Jr., CPA chief of operations section, said the shipper, AEL Development Group Inc., had documents to show but had no FDA certification, thus they reported it to the Department of Agriculture Regional Veterinarian Quarantine Office.

The quarantine office then raised the alarm to the province’s Task Force.

The task force brought the confiscated products to the province owned warehouse in M. Velez and will wait for thermal destruction.

In a statement released by the Capitol Information Office, it said that the shipper is operating in Mandaue City and is the sole supplier of Maling products in all supermarkets in Cebu that carries it and one supermarket in Bohol. — GAN (FREEMAN)