Customs To Watch Out For Holiday Hams

MANILA, Philippines—With the approach of the holiday season, the Bureau of Customs on Wednesday said it would be scrutinizing imported ham and other meat products.

Ferdinand Tuason, BOC-Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service chief, told reporters that while meat is a regulated product, his office decided to examine 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 measures,” he told reporters.

After coming under fire for the entry of melamine-tainted milk, chocolates and other by-products, the BOC has intensified its monitoring of other imported items such as canned goods, Christmas lights and toys suspected to containing chemicals hazardous to health.

He said the BOC will be taking a “pro-active stance” because the agency is often blamed whenever food products harmful to consumer's health find their way into the local market.

“We would be enforcing strict measures, even if there is no alert, on these commodities even if they are safe to ensure the public's safety,” Tuason added.

Tuason shrugged off instances in the past when the bureau gets blamed whenever other agencies discover food products that were smuggled or found to be hazardous to public health.

“They do not see the enhancements we have been making,” he said, adding that the job of monitoring the arrival of ham and other meat products, for instance, does not only lie on the hands of the bureau but also with other agencies such as the National Meat Inspection Service and the Bureau of Food and Drugs.

Tuason said his office would be working with the bureau's assessment and formal entry divisions in inspecting shipments of ham and other meat products, which usually come from China, Australia, United States and European countries.

Last month, three Customs agents were sacked from their posts after being implicated in an abortive smuggling of four container vans full of frozen pork and meat, misdeclared as mackerel and valued at P11.2 million, which came from China.