BOC to clamp down on imported ham, meat products

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said yesterday it will strictly monitor shipments of imported ham and other meat products that would enter the country during the holiday season.

Fernandino Tuason, BOC Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) intelligence chief, said they have decided to scrutinize all products in reefer or refrigerated containers. “All reefer shipments would be placed under a 100 percent examination. All refrigerated commodities would be placed in our watchlist. This is part of our preemptive measure,” he said.

He said it is not their intention to spoil Christmas and that they have only taken a pro-active stance because the BOC has always been blamed whenever questionable food products are able to slip into the local market.

Tuason added that the job to monitor the arrival of ham and other meat products does not solely lie with the BOC. He said there are other agencies, such as the National Meat Inspection Service and Bureau of Food and Drugs, that help them.

Ham and other meat products mostly come from China, Australia, the United States and European countries.

In September 2006, Customs personnel Camilo Jolejole, Joel de Guzman, and Manuel Navarro were removed from their posts for allegedly failing to stop the smuggling of P11.2 million worth of frozen pork and chicken products from China.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Philippine National Police confiscated the smuggled meat products, which were misdeclared as mackerel.           

– Evelyn Macairan