EDITORIAL - Compromising food safety

A few years ago, amid the bird flu scare, more than 40 shipping containers laden with imported dressed chicken were smuggled through the port of Batangas. Authorities who wanted to test the shipment for bird flu contamination arrived at the Batangas port too late; the shipment cleared Customs at breakneck speed. A few of the shipping containers were later found abandoned, with their cargo rotting in the tropical heat. The rest presumably made it to the intended destinations. The real consignee was never identified and at least one Batangas Customs official was later promoted.

Today, as the country faces another food safety problem, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago says the Bureau of Customs has failed to prevent the entry of milk and other food products with dubious origin that could be tainted with toxic substances such as melamine. Santiago emphasizes that imported food products should pass Philippine standards on food safety. She blames corruption and negligence at the BOC for the entry of food products that endanger public health.

Apart from dealing with corruption, the BOC must strengthen its coordination with the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture to improve the enforcement of safety standards in the importation of food products and animal feed. If unscrupulous manufacturers in China and certain other countries cannot be stopped from lacing food products with toxic substances, it is up to Philippine authorities to see to it that these products do not make their way to the country’s retail outlets.

Amid the melamine scare, the Bureau of Food and Drugs is overwhelmed. Since the melamine scandal erupted, the BFAD has tested only 30 products so far, clearing 28 of them last week and banning the products of Chinese milk companies Yili and Mengniu. The BFAD has about 200 more products to go. The situation is so bad the bureau is reportedly considering outsourcing product testing.

Hand in hand with the efforts of the BFAD should be a serious effort on the part of Customs authorities to help ensure food safety. At the very least, the country where an imported product was manufactured must be clearly specified in the packaging together with the ingredients. The task of ensuring food safety amid the melamine scandal would have been easier if Customs authorities had done their job.