THE Directorate of Veterinary Services in the ministry of agriculture confiscated and destroyed nearly five tonnes of chicken meat imported to Namibia from the United States, via South Africa, because of suspicious labelling.
This comes after allegations that those responsible for importing or exporting the chicken tampered with the expiry dates on the packages.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Margeret Kalo, said in a statement yesterday that 1 126 cartons of chicken meat weighing 4 850 kilogrammes were imported into Namibia, with two different stickers on the boxes.
One sticker with a producer’s logo indicated that the meat will expire on 23 January 2019, and another sticker placed on top of the first one had an expiry date of 19 February 2020. The second sticker did not have a producer’s logo.
The meat was confiscated on 25 June.
“It was legally imported to South Africa and re-exported to Namibia,” Kalo explained.
She did not give the value of the chicken, but added that the Walvis Bay businessperson was a regular importer of chicken products.
“The imported products were incinerated on 29 and 30 August at the Kupferberg landfill in Windhoek under the supervision of veterinary services. The issue was discussed with the importer, who seemed to understand the risk that the expired products may cause to human health,” she continued.
She gave the assurance that no other products were imported with double labels, adding that the importer was informed to adhere to the import requirements.
Attempts to find the ‘general suppliers’ described in the consignment were not successful, and the ministry did not reveal the identity of the Namibian importer.
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