Pork shipment seized at Bacolod port

BACOLOD CITY — About 777 kilograms of assorted pork products worth 1200,000 were seized at the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. (Bredco) port here last Wednesday.

Members of the Provincial Task Force on African Swine Fever (ASF) in Negros Occidental, along with personnel from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), and the Philippine Coast Guard, confiscated the products.

Negros Occidental has clamped a 90day ban on pork products coming from Luzon after cases of ASF were reported in the provinces of Rizal and Bulacan.

The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) said the products arrived on the M/V St. Therese of the Child Jesus.

The shipment contains imported pork that were processed in Rizal such as tocino, chorizo, bacon, pork liver, ham, pork leg, schublig and hungarian sausages.

The seized products were shipped back to its port of origin.

The PVO said it will write the concerned shipping lines to remind them not to allow its passengers or crew to bring banned items in the province.

Last Sept. 12, five tons of illegally imported pork products worth 1500,000 were seized by local authorities at the same port.

Two weeks later, 27 kilograms of pork asado siopao from Luzon were confiscated by the Provincial Task Force on ASF at the Bacolod-Silay Airport in Silay City.

The provincial government reassured the consuming public that it is still safe to eat pork, since the PVO, National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) and local government units (LGUs) regularly monitor the quality of meat sold in local markets.