BOC to test Lotte shipments

An official of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said yesterday it will put on hold future shipments of two biscuit products that recently tested positive for melamine.

BOC Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) director Jairus Paguntalan said their office will issue an advisory against Lotte B & W Koala Biscuit and Lotte Chocolate Snack Koala and hold any shipments while waiting for the results of a laboratory analysis taken from sample products.

“The moment that they (are) cleared by the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD), the shipment would be released immediately,” he said.

Lotte is a South Korean company with headquarters in Japan. Most of the manufacturers of other melamine-positive products are based in China. 

“It would be prudent on our part to be on the watch for all food products even from other countries...If the BFAD says (it has) melamine then it would not be allowed entry,” Paguntalan said.

He said that in the current global market, a firm in one country might source milk or other raw material from China to come up with a finished product.

Apart from the two Lotte biscuit products, the BFAD earlier identified four milk products laced with melamine: Jolly Cow Slender High Calcium Low Fat Milk, Greenfood Yili Pure Milk, Mengniu Drink, and Lotte Strawberry Snack Koala Biscuit.

Since the BFAD had already cleared 184 different brands of milk and its by-products and canned meat products, Paguntalan said it was high time that “we recommend to Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales to allow the importation of milk and its derivatives into the country which have been cleared by the BFAD.”

However, he said that they would only lift the hold order against these food products if the importer is able to present a clearance to operate and a certificate of product registration, both issued by the BFAD.

Meanwhile, BOC-CIIS intelligence chief Fernandino Tuason said BFAD stated that a recent shipment of Snickers chocolate bars worth P5 million tested negative for melamine. It had been put on hold since late September.

At least 53,000 infants in China were reported to have fallen ill after being fed melamine-contaminated infant formula.