HCM City seeks to trace pork origins
From July 31, only pork with traceable origins is ostensibly allowed to enter Ho Chi Minh City’s two wholesale markets, but inspections by authorities found that only around 13% of the pork in the markets actually had clear origins, according to the municipal Department of Industry and Trade.
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Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, deputy director of the department, said on July 30 night and July 31 morning, for instance, some 8,400 pig carcasses were brought in, but only 1,205 had traceable origins.
He said that 35% had information entered in their rings by farmers, but the rate falls to 21% when they leave slaughterhouses following lapses by veterinary staff, and falls further to 13% when they reach the two wholesale markets.
The city’s programme to trace the origin of pork involves four locations – farms, abattoirs, wholesale distributors, and retailers.It has a connected information system, and if any part of the chain does not record information, consumers cannot check the origin of the meat, Hoa explained.
Around 85% of the pork consumed in the city market is supplied from other cities and provinces, and the city is the only locality in the country to have such a programme.
So the city can only request authorities in other provinces to help in this regard, he said.
To improve the situation, relevant city agencies should co-operate with their counterparts in other provinces to persuade pig farmers to record information about pigs and instruct abattoirs and traders to accept only pigs with clear origins, he said.
The department has called on the city government to take a tougher line with violators.
Hoa said pork sold through modern trade channels is properly regulated. Thus, if the portion sold through traditional retail channels - which get their pork from the two wholesale markets - is also tightly controlled, all the pork sold in the city would have traceable origins, he said.