BACOLOD City – As the Provincial African Swine Fever (ASF) Task Force here intensified its campaign, more imported canned pork products were seized in Negros Occidental in a series of inspections conducted this week.
Task force personnel and the Murcia municipal agriculture office on Friday confiscated 14 cans of banned pork products, mostly Chinese-made Ma Ling luncheon meat from a grocery store, following the confiscation of 21 cans of the same product during an inspection at the public market in Silay City on Tuesday.
Ma Ling is one of the nine brands listed on the Food and Drug Administration Order 2019-046, which directs all importers, distributors, retail outlets and other dealers to immediately recall all pork meat products imported from countries suspected to be affected by the ASF virus.
The inspections were conducted by the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) District Field Unit III under officer-in-charge Dr. Modesto Joseph Cañonero III.
Last Aug. 22, the task force chaired by Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson seized several cans of Ma Ling during an inspection at a supermarket in Bacolod City.
To ensure the safety of the P6-billion swine industry of Negros Occidental, including backyard swine producers, the provincial government implemented a 90-day ban on pork products from Luzon.
The ban covers live pigs, pork, pork products and by-products from Luzon whether fresh, processed or canned which can carry the ASF virus.
The task force quarantine team on Thursday and Wednesday sent back to Manila hundreds of kilograms of pork products that arrived at the Bacolod-Silay Airport and Bredco Port here.
Last Saturday, the task force also seized at least 27 kg of pork “asado” siopao from Luzon that arrived at the airport. The 34 packs of siopao were burned immediately.(With a report from PNA/PN)
