May 24, 2022

Mislabeled pork products confiscated by Malaysian authorities

Pork labeled as fish in tins from China were seized by the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services (Maqis) before they could hit shelves in the country.

Maqis deputy director-general Dr. Azhari Sharidan Abu Bakar said they managed to foil an attempt to bring in a container with 864 boxes (20,736 tins) of "Canned Meining Fish Luncheon Meat" at the North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT) in Penang.

He said the seizure took place in February this year when Maqis enforcement officers found 7,050.24kg of fish products in tins from China. Further investigations showed that the products labeled as fish were actually pork.

"Items that are imported with fake, inaccurate or confusing information is an offence under Section 13 of the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services Act 2011(Act 728)," Dr. Bakar said during a press conference held at the Maqis office in Bayan Lepas on May 12. "Pork is prohibited from being imported from China to avoid the risk of African swine fever (ASF) entering the country. It can affect the pig farming industry here and the production of pork products."

Dr. Bakar said the importing company was charged under Section 11 (1) of the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services Act 2011 for importing agricultural products without a valid Import Permit from Maqis.

"As per law, we have seized the goods and will be destroying it in the next two weeks," he said, adding this was their biggest seizure involving pork meat this year.

- The Star