Customs alerted vs pet food, feeds from China

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Friday alerted all ports against the importation of China-made pet and animal feeds that might be tainted with melamine. The directive was issued by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) in response to a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory recalling pet food due to melamine content. “We will hold the shipment and give them to the proper authority for clearance," CIIS director Jairus Paguntalan said. However, Paguntalan said the holding of the pet food and animal feeds will be on a case to case basis, noting that it does not include bird seeds. “Wala naman siguro melamine ito. Mga processed meat products for dogs, cats, etc. lamang ang aming titingnan dahil sa ang dog food ay galing sa carcass ng cow, it is grinded to become a dog food," the BOC official said. Paguntalan explained that they generalized the control on “pet food/animal feeds" so that it will cover all pet products. “Just to make sure. Wala na itemized na list baka kasi may ma left out na product. Lalo na yung mga labeled with foreign character," he said. Testing of the products will be conducted and can be cleared in one day if required by lab analysis, but it will depend on the speed of the laboratory to come out with result. The alerted shipment would be placed in the importer's warehouses but they will be asked to sign an undertaking that they cannot sell the products without import commodity clearance or Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) clearance. However, he noted that the holding of the shipments can be lifted anytime or as soon as the products were cleared by the proper authorities. - GMANews.TV