Stressing the problem that farmers now frequently buy poultry breeds without clear origin, leading to unwanted financial damages or disease spreading, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien asked for more thorough handling of the trafficking of smuggled livestock and poultry.
SGGP News has repeatedly reported cases of smuggling poultry in the Northern border areas, mostly in Mong Cai City of Quang Ninh Province. Many trucks, when spotted, were transporting 1-to-2-day-old chickens and ducklings or seriously sick or dead ones.
Chairman of the Vietnam Poultry Association (VPA) Nguyen Thanh Son informed that some people have lately imported about-to-hatch poultry eggs to Vietnam as a way to circumvent the law for poultry breeds selling.
Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Truong Son affirmed that the applicable law stipulates the responsibility of the Department of Livestock Production (under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) in fighting against smuggling poultry and livestock. He explained that smuggling happens because of price gaps between the two regions.
The Environmental Crime Prevention Police Department (C05 – under the Public Security Ministry) supported the proposal to form an inter-disciplinary inspection team between the police and the agriculture sector to stop poultry and livestock smugglers, especially from China to Vietnam through the Northern border area.
Deputy Director of C05 Le Thom further reported that there are fishponds covering hundreds of square meters built just a few kilometers away from the border for fisheries smuggling. As to poultry, many ill-intention people take advantages of weaknesses in the current law to transport poultry eggs to Vietnam to sell as breeds later.
There are also warnings for the border areas in the Central and Southern regions about cases of smuggling cows and buffalos.
Therefore, C05 suggested that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development direct localities to monitor the situation of poultry and livestock smuggling in their area more strictly. C05 is calling upon the cooperation of related businesses in timely informing functional units of illegal activities when they detect any.
