By EUGENE ADIONG
BACOLOD City — Imported meats sold in Negros Occidental and this city are “not sick or hot meat,” assured the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO).
“We are strictly monitoring them and requiring documents from their importers,” Dr. Renante Decena, provincial veterinarian, said in reaction to reports that “double-dead” meats are being sold in markets here.
Imported meats enter the country, specifically Visayas, via international ports in Cebu and Iloilo cities, Decena said.
He said they were being inspected by the National Meat Inspection Service, which issues a certificate of meat inspection.
After which, the PVO issues landing permits for the distribution of meats to 38 dealers in the province, 30 of which are in this capital city, he said.
PVO records showed that about 61,420.19 kilos of imported meats from Germany, Canada, United States, Netherlands, Brazil, France and Belgium entered Negros Occidental from May 1 to middle of June.
Decena said one of the requirements for imported meats is proper storage.
He said the Philippines allows the importation of meats due to the increasing demand for meat and processed meat products.
The country, however, stopped importing meat from China because of the foot-and-mouth disease there, he said./PN
