A TOTAL of 544 packs of pork chicharon, pork and Japanese siomai were confiscated and disposed of by the City Veterinary Office over the weekend.
The National Veterinary Quarantine Services seized the 518 chicharon products in an establishment located along Velez-Chavez Street, Divisoria, Cagayan de Oro City.
According to the City Veterinary Office, the item's raw materials were sourced from a foreign country, but the products are from Davao, an African Swine Fever (ASF)-hit region.
The 20 packs of pork siomai and six packs of Japanese siomai, on the other hand, were confiscated from an establishment in Cogon market after the owner failed to present the required documents needed to sell the products.
All of the confiscated products were burned at the City Stock Farm in Barangay Balubal, Cagayan de Oro City.
On September 27, 2019, Mayor Oscar Moreno issued Executive Order 172, which prohibits the entry of hogs, all fresh/frozen pork meat, and processed pork products from Luzon, Davao, and other identified ASF-affected areas in the country and abroad.
The ban applies to bacon, hams, pork tocino, pork longganisa and
chorizo, pork hotdogs and sausages, pork meatloaf, pork mechado, pork chicharon, pork siopao and siomai, and frozen boar semen.
City Veterinarian Dr. Lucien Anthony Acac is reminding business owners, including online sellers, to be vigilant and to stop selling pork products from ASF-hit areas.