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COA crackdown begins on trade in dead porkers

Agricultural officials are forming a task force to crack down on the sale of pork from pigs that died before reaching slaughterhouses, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday.

Six local authorities governing major pig farms in the south will form a task force with assistance from the central government, according to the council.

The announcement came one day after the Consumer Protection Commission said that several cases of trading in questionable pork had been uncovered by police in Pintung County and other southern counties.

Between 2001 and the end of May, 161 tonnes of questionable pork were seized from private slaughterhouses but the amount of pork that had already reached the market was not known, commission officials said.

Council statistics indicate that from January to May this year, 11 instances of trade in questionable pork had been discovered and 30 persons apprehended.

Prosecutors had confiscated 8,300kg of questionable pork and 139 dead pigs.

Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine officials said yesterday that stricter measures would be carried out to prevent similar activities from endangering public health.

"We will demand that all truckers transporting dead pigs should be equipped with a Global Positioning System device by the end of this year," bureau Director General Chiang Yi-nan (江益男) said yesterday.

According to Chiang, at the end of this year more than 100 trucks which transport pigs would be tracked by the government.

The bureau will also convene a meeting today of representatives from several governmental agencies, including the Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Administration and the National Police Administration as well as country governments in Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pintung to discuss efforts to crack down on the trade in suspect pork.

In addition, council officials said a thorough review will be made of the number dead pigs picked up from farms and the number received by factories which treat the carcasses.

The council will also supervise the new task force, which will investigate illegal slaughter houses.

Meanwhile, pig farms that raise more than 2,000 pigs will have their numbers checked on a monthly basis, agriculture officials said.

The officials said that proper ways to dispose of carcasses are burning, burial or removal from farm premises.

Those who fail to comply could face fines of between NT$100,000 to NT$500,000 and prison terms of up to three years.

Officials say the penalties appear too light to have much of a deterrent effect on dishonest farmers and truckers.

Therefore, the council recommends that all pigs be slaughtered under conditions that meet the Chinese Agricultural Standards (CAS) system, a system designed to ensure the safety of agricultural products.

Officials encouraged people to call the 0800-039-131 hotline to report cases of questionable pork. Those who report clues leading to the discovery of a crime are eligible to receive a NT$500,000 reward.
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