MARD tackles poultry smuggling Disinfectant is sprayed on a truck transporting poultry to Ha Vy market in Ha Noi. — VNA/VNS Photo Dinh Hue HA NOI (VNS)— Viet Nam will strengthen its effort to crack down the rampant smuggling of poultry along the border with China so as to protect the domestic livestock sector, says Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan. At a conference in Ha Noi, he said domestic raisers have been beset by problems caused of poultry smuggling, which has been so prevalent that they have faced no choice but to force down their selling price. "If this situation continues for one more year it will drive the livestock sector to the brink of collapse, transforming Viet Nam from a meat exporter to an importer," Tan said bluntly. "I do not think we have done our best to tackle this issue." Tan said another concern was whether the smuggled poultry is meeting safety standards, as if not then this poses a threat to Vietnamese consumers. "Our people may be eating what others have already thrown away." He also warned that the chickens may be a source of the avian flu virus. "When we allow smuggled poultry to pass through the border, we invite new virus strains to come in also." He cited evidence that since 2003 many samples of the virus found in Vietnamese chicken were similar to those found in Chinese poultry. According to the deputy director of the ministry's Animal Husbandry Department, Nguyen Duc Trong, the smuggling is occurring mostly in the bordering provinces of Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Cao Bang, Lang Son and Quang Ninh. Illegally imported goods include different breeds of chicken - including those that can no longer lay eggs - and duck. Trong said the big difference in price between imports and domestic produce has made smuggling an increasingly lucrative business. One kilogramme of chicken meat is sold at a price of VND15,000 in China, VND35,000 at the Mong Cai border gate and VND65,000 at a wholesale market in Ha Noi, more than four times the initial price. Deputy minister Tan said that all relevant agencies had to review their operations so as to find the reasons for their lack of efficiency, adding it was not fair that the farmers had to suffer because some law enforcement forces failed to fulfil their tasks preventing smuggling. He added that from now on it should be crystal clear who takes responsibility for dealing with cases of smuggled chickens being imported into country. One drastic measure the deputy minister suggested was to significantly tighten control at a number of big wholesale markets in Ha Noi and in the provinces of Bac Giang and Bac Ninh, as these are the crucial points in the supply chain. Nearly all of the imported chickens are gathered here before being transported to countless smaller markets. "If we are serious in confiscating and destroying all the smuggled poultry at those markets, it will in turn help to control the smuggling along the border to some extent," he said. At the conference, law enforcement forces on the ground also voiced the difficulties they encounter when working. Can Xuan Binh, head of Ha Noi's Animal Health Department, said the smugglers were getting more cunning and when stopped by authorities they could escape with the help of many sidekicks. Meanwhile, each team working usually consists of one policeman and one market watch official which is far from enough to deal with these crafty smugglers. "It does not help that punishments are just a slap on the wrist. The penalty we can hand out to violators is several million dong, but we have to spend much more than that to destroy all the confiscated goods. In addition, the owner of the goods is normally never there, only the transporter," he said. Deputy director of Lang Son Province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Department Nong Ngoc Tang said one of the reasons for the rampant smuggling in his province was that it shared such a long border with China, allowing goods to be smuggled through both official border gates and countless small trails that are difficult to monitor. Tang asked the relevant agencies to co-operate on creating measures to catch owners of illegally imported stock and to increase penalties to act as a deterrent. — VNS