BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – About P676,000 worth of pork and poultry products from various ports and checkpoints in Negros Occidental were seized in January.
According to Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) head Dr. Placeda Lemana, they confiscated P293,830 worth of poultry and poultry-related products. The confiscations weighed a total of 15 kilograms and included 819 fowl heads.
The said products were either confiscated or returned to their point of origin.
On December 2022, Lacson issued Executive Order No. 22-62 establishing guidelines for the entry of all live and domestic birds and their products.
Meanwhile, a consolidated summary of the Veterinary Inspection Report also showed that hog shipment apprehension by the African Swine Fever Task Force seized 1,542 pieces of assorted pork products, weighing 461.75 kilograms and valued at P382,111.
Lemana said that for January, the quarantine team has inspected 15,525 incoming vehicles and refrigerated container vans at the seaport of Bacolod City and different seaports and checkpoints in the province.
She added that product entries were only allowed if complete documents were presented.
Negros Occidental remains ASF- and bird flu-free; they are hoping it would stay that way, said Lemana.
Negros Occidental has a P6-billion swine industry, while the province’s poultry industry is pegged at P8 billion.
The entry of ASF and bird flu into the province will not only negatively impact the livelihood of the Negrenses, but could also severely damage the province’s ability to produce food.
Negros Occidental is one of the top food producers and exporters in the Visayas./PN
