Authorities are trying to control contaminated chickens that are being illegally imported into Vietnam.
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Four tonnes of chicken were intercepted in Ba Vi District |
At a conference about preventing poor quality imported chickens into Vietnam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said the illegally imported chickens were contaminated with high doses of antibiotics and other chemical substances. In addition domestic poultry could be infected by the imported chicken.
In Ha Vy market, Hanoi, 80 tonnes of illegally imported chickens have been sold daily in the first six months of 2012.
In the first nine months of 2012, the market surveillance force dealt with 6,400 food hygiene and safety violations and issued fines totalling VND31 billion (USD1.5 million). They have continued to discover tonnes of dead or chicken of unknown origins transferred through the border.
In April, three tonnes of dead chicken were found on the way from Mong Cai to Hanoi and in early November, the management agencies discovered 12,000 smuggled chicken from China. Recently, a truck carrying more than 4 tonnes of chicken was intercepted in Ba Vi District on November 20.
The chicken is cheap, with smugglers buying the chicken at VND15-25,000 per kg and sell at VND65-70,000 per kg in the market.
On December 10, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan noted after surveying the Mong Cai Border Gate that the anti-smuggling activities is ineffective. Though the amount of illegally imported chicken has been reduced after August when authorities cracked down, the results were only temporary.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade said they would carry out a pilot programme to prevent smuggled poultry from December 15, 2012 to December 2013.
At the conference, delegates also agreed with the goals to prevent 70-80% of smuggled chicken from entering Vietnam and totally controlling smuggled chicken into Hanoi by the end of March 2013.
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