TO prevent the entry of quails and ducks coming from bird flu-hit areas amid reports that there is rampant smuggling of chicken eggs by trucks that often elude checkpoints, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) asked the office of the provincial veterinarian to strengthen animal and fowl inspections at border quarantine checkpoints.

This concern raised by members of the Tarlac Pangasinan La Union Egg Producers Association prompted the SP on March 18 to sound the alarm and the need to beef up border checkpoints with additional personnel in order to thoroughly check documents of incoming vehicles loaded with poultry products, particularly, shipping  permits that indicate the volume of products and source of origin.

The association reported that there is only one personnel from the office of the veterinarian assigned to each of the 11 border quarantine checkpoint in Pangasinan that checks all the documents of trucks and vehicles bringing poultry products into the province.

Dr. Jovito Tabarejos, acting provincial veterinarian of Pangasinan, admitted that his personnel are now the only ones left in these quarantine checkpoints as the police personnel that used to be assigned there are already performing other missions, like monitoring the entry of firearms and lawless elements to ensure peace during the May elections.

Without PNP personnel in the order quarantine checkpoints, a veterinary personnel is incapable of flagging down trucks and other vehicles bringing in animal and poultry products, Tabarejos said.

Compounding the problem for the lone inspectors is the fact that unmarked trucks and other vehicles are bringing in poultry products with no identification if the trucks are delivering eggs and poultry product or other products.

Tabarejos told the SP that there may be a need to field a mobile patrol to check where these unlabeled trucks and vehicles are dropping their undocumented poultry products.

So far, per an executive order of Governor Amado Espino III, only quails and ducks from bird flu hit areas in Pampanga are temporarily banned from entering Pangasinan from February 15 to March 31 this year.

But because of the report from local egg producers that there is rampant smuggling of eggs from other provinces, unduly affecting the prices of local products, SP urged Tabajeros to extend the monitoring by his office entry of eggs and chicken meat.

The local egg producers also called on the provincial government to impose higher taxes on eggs coming from other provinces, higher than the  P10 per 12 trays being levied by the Provincial Tax Ordinance enacted way back in 2013 that has not been updated since. (Leonardo Micua)

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments