Zamboanga destroys 200 kilos of Cebu meat products

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Authorities here destroyed over 200 kilos of confiscated processed meat and chicken products which came from Cebu City, the Port Management Office or PMO said.

Photos from the Port Management Office show the confiscated meat products from Cebu. 

The Bureau of Animal Industry and the Department of Agriculture or DA seized the meat products from a boat after alert security guards and port police at the Port of Zamboanga inspected the vessel to ensure they were free from the African swine fever virus.

The meat products - 194 kilos of processed meats and 30 kilos of chicken products - had been mis-declared and did not have documents. It was all burned on Monday in the presence of representatives from the Food and Drug Administration, the Meat Inspection Service and DA.

“PMO-Zamboanga is committed in performing its other mandate of making sure that Zamboanga City and its neighboring islands is free from the threat of African Swine Fever and ensuring food safety in the region per President Duterte Executive Order No. 105,” it said, referring to the creation of the national task force to prevent the entry of animal-borne diseases.

Because of the confiscation of the undocumented meat products, the Department of Agriculture Region awarded the Port Police Division and PMO-Zamboanga with a certificate of appreciation and P10,000 cash to the security guards involved in the apprehension of the contraband.

Mayor Beng Climaco also lauded the confiscation of the meat products.

The local government is strictly implementing safety measures to ensure that Zamboanga remains free from the African swine fever despite the humongous work it is currently doing in combating the spread of the new coronavirus or Covid-19 pandemic.

Climaco said the City Veterinary Office continues to strictly implement the DA guidelines of zoning and protocols with regards to the movement, sale, and trade of hogs, pork and pork products to contain the spread of ASF in the country.

She signed early this year the Executive Order 543–2020 in support to the DA guidelines and also in pursuant to President Rodrigo Duterte’s order urging local and national government agencies to harmonize efforts with the DA in stopping the spread of ASF. 

Checkpoints have been placed in entry and exit points in Zamboanga since last year to ensure that no infected hogs and its pork products slip past the city.

She said personnel from the City Veterinarian Office continue to inspect and conduct disinfection of trucks transporting live pigs and other animals to Zamboanga to protect the hog population against the ASF.

“Zamboanga City remains free from ASF,” Climaco said, adding, strict protocols are being observed to monitor and regulate the entry of hog and pork products here as a measure against the contagious animal disease.

Last September, Climaco organized the “Task Force Karne” with the local government working closely with the Food and Drugs Administration and DA in conducting inspections in support to the national ban on the importation, distribution and sale of all processed pork products from countries infected with the ASF such as China following the breakout of the disease in July 2019, mostly backyard pigs in the provinces of Rizal and Bulacan and then spread elsewhere in Luzon.

The task force is composed of representatives from the City Veterinary Office, National Meat Inspection Service, Task Force Ordinance, and Business Permits and Licensing Division.

The FDA previously ordered the pull-out from the markets of all processed pork products such as luncheon meat imported from Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Moldova, South Africa, Zambia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

AFS is a large, double-stranded DNA virus in the Asfarviridae family. The virus is transmitted to pigs through direct contact with infected pigs, their waste, contaminated clothing, feed, equipment and vehicles, and in some cases, some tick species. Although ASF cannot be transmitted to humans through contact with pigs or pork, the virus causes a haemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic pigs; some isolates can cause death of animals as quickly as a week after infection.

Climaco also reminded personnel manning the checkpoints at the boundaries to always wear face mask and disinfect or wash their hands with soap and water frequently to ensure the safety of their health against Covid-19. (Zamboanga Post)

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