Sunday, July 08, 2007 461 kilos of ‘hot meat’ confiscated
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- The National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS)-Cordillera seized 461 kilos of ‘hot meat’ in its effort to crackdown illegal sale of meat and meat products in line with its Oplan Bantay Karne program.
NMIS Regional Director Criselda Pagluanan said Task Force Oplan Bantay Karne composed of NMIS employees in cooperation with media and police enforcers is pursuant to Department of Agriculture Administrative Order or the DA Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 7394 or the Consumer Act of the Philippines.
The order states that livestock should only be slaughtered in accredited slaughterhouses and abattoirs and transported in accredited delivery vans under strict prescribed conditions.
‘Hot meat’ is defined as illegally slaughtered, imported or misbranded meat products and non-accredited meat products.
MIS Accreditation Regulatory Enforcement Division head Florencio Pintor, meanwhile, said five operations were conducted since last June.
Confiscated on June 19 were 108 kilograms of pork eardrums imported from Spain and bought from Pampanga. The product was not issued a Certificate of Imported Meat (Comi) during inspection but was instead given a Veterinary Quarantine Meat Inspection Laboratory Certificate (VQMILC) dated May 22, 2007 and misdeclared as pork liver.
Pintor said the same afternoon, another VQMILC dated May 16, 2007 was submitted indicating pork eardrum product.
Also seized the same day were 175 kilograms of pork longanisa from Mangaldan, Pangasinan from a non-accredited meat processing plant. There was no Meat Processed Product Inspection Certificate (MPPIC) issued during inspection but a tampered MPPIC was submitted dated June 15, 2007 with an entry of 300 kilograms.
On June 20, assorted pork cuts weighing 113.8 kilograms were also confiscated at Lakandula and Rajah Soliman Streets in Baguio City. Through joint efforts of the task force, it was found out these were illegally slaughtered and in a violation of the Anti-Peddling Law.
Also on June 26, assorted processed meat products weighing 52 kilograms produced in Baguio were seized. The license of the meat processor expired in 2003 hence there is no MPPIC issued.
Seized last July 3 were assorted processed meat products weighing 12 kilograms. The processor was not issued MPPIC.
Pagluanan explained that slaughtering is legal if in the course of transportation of processed meat, this is accompanied by a meat inspection report from its point of origin to its point of destination bearing inspection marks. (PIA)
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