Close to P500,000 worth of pork and poultry products banned from entering Negros Occidental were intercepted in the first three weeks of January, Dr. Placeda Lemana, OIC provincial veterinarian, said Thursday, January 26.
Lemana in a report to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said that the African Swine Fever Task Force seized 331.75 kilograms of assorted pork-products from other parts of the country at seaports, checkpoints and markets in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City from January 1 to 22 estimated to cost P268,656.
She said from January 14 to 20 the quarantine team inspected 3,592 incoming vehicles and refrigerated container vans at seaports and checkpoints in the province and only products with complete documents were allowed entry.
Lemana also reported that 960 hogs were shipped out of Negros Occidental to different destinations in Luzon and Visayas from January 14 to 20.
The apprehended poultry products from January 1 to 20 reached an estimated market value of P226,590, she added.
The ban on the entry of such products had been imposed to protect the local poultry industry from bird flu.*