Philippines Scrutinise Smuggled Meat
AUSTRALIA - The Philippines’s National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), in a recent memorandum, has instructed all regional offices to tighten their inspections of cold storages and meat establishments to detect illegal meat imports.
14 June 2007
1 minute read
According to the memorandum, only meat from animals that were slaughtered, inspected, and passed by inspectors from NMIS accredited slaughterhouses or poultry dressing plants shall be utilised in NMIS accredited meat plants for processing, canning and packing. The law further declares that imported meat and products that failed to meet Philippines’ import requirements shall not be allowed entry into the country.
The directive was issued along with the Filipino Department of Agriculture’s intensified effort to curb smuggling of meat and meat products, including beef from China. In addition, while imports of Indian buffalo meat can only be used for the manufacturing sector, some has been illegally sold at retail.
With this added scrutiny, imports of Indian buffalo meat decreased by 8% over the three months to March compared with the same time in 2006, to 15,350 tonnes. Meanwhile, Philippine beef imports from Brazil increased 70% (to 8,313 tonnes) over the same period, from Australia by 54% (3,118 tonnes) and from New Zealand by 30% (2,791 tonnes).
TheCattleSite News Desk
