SEPANGGAR: State Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister Datuk Jamawi Jaafar will submit a report to the Cabinet on a RM3.8 million frozen meat seizure and seek a mandate to form a special committee for coordinated enforcement action.
“I will submit a report to the Cabinet and seek a mandate to form a special committee involving my Ministry, the Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS), Customs, police and other enforcement agencies to ensure coordinated action and a proper disposal process for seized goods,” he said during an inspection of the seized items at the Sabah Ports, here, Sunday.
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The latest seizure involved 12 containers of frozen meat suspected to be smuggled from China but falsely labelled as halal imports from Thailand.
“The containers were declared as vegetables, but based on what we found, they were frozen poultry from China and we doubt whether the halal status is genuine,” he said.
He said checks showed the containers actually held frozen chicken parts packaged with halal labels. Of the 12 containers, 11 held frozen poultry while the remaining one held frozen pork.
“Each container is about 29 tonnes worth about RM300,000 to RM350,000. For the 12 containers, that comes up to about RM3.8 million,” he said.
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Jamawi said the AKPS seized about 30 similar containers since the start of the year, with investigations by the Veterinary Services Department also finding that the company names and addresses printed on the boxes were misleading.
He called on those responsible for bringing in such products to stop immediately and to go through proper channels.
“I want those involved in such business to stop and apply through the proper process, as the Veterinary Services Department always provides room for certified food supplies with proven and registered halal certification to enter,” he said.
He said such products threatened the confidence of the Muslim community in obtaining halal food supplies and services.
He praised the AKPS, the Customs Department and the Veterinary Services officers stationed at the port for detecting and stopping the containers before they could reach the open market.
He said his Ministry will continue working with AKPS and Customs to curb the smuggling of poultry and other undeclared food products into Sabah.
On whether there were other items found inside the containers besides frozen poultry and pork meat, Jamawi said no other unusual items had been found so far, but the Customs Department was still liaising with the Marine Department to obtain approval to open the containers for disposal, which would allow authorities to confirm their full contents.
“So far, we have not found anything unusual, but we still do not know what else is inside. Customs is arranging with the Marine Department to remove the containers for disposal,” he said.
He said the seizure was not the final step but an early move in continued cooperation between the Ministry and enforcement agencies to curb food smuggling affecting the people of Sabah.
For the record, an operation led by the General Operations Force resulted in the seizure of frozen products and assets worth more than RM24 million across 11 districts in July.
In May, an operation led by the AKPS uncovered a false declaration scheme and seized frozen poultry products worth RM2.43 million at the Sabah Ports in Sepanggar.
In July last year, an operation led by the GOF resulted in the seizure of frozen food products worth over RM35 million across 10 districts.
Present were the Ministry’s Assistant Minister Datuk Ruslan Muharam, Department of Veterinary Services Sabah Deputy Director Dr Connie Joyce Tann, Customs Assistant Director Dr Emmanuel Lim, AKPS’ Kota Kinabalu Port Commander Shahrizan Ibrahim and Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd Auxiliary Police Sergeant Josue Charles Vercelli Likon, among others.
