ISKANDAR PUTERI:The recent unearthing of a cartel smuggling in frozen meat shows that there is an urgent need to increase the manpower of the Department of Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services Department (MAQIS) at all entrance gates into the country.

MAQIS Deputy director general, Dr Azhari Sharidah Abu Bakar said this was because the department only had 467 members to control 57 entrance gates in Peninsular Malaysia.

He said inspections in Sabah and Sarawak were under the relevant agencies such as the Department of Veterinary Services Malaysia, Department of Agriculture Malaysia and Department of Fisheries Malaysia.

"Currently, we are facing problems because there are not many officers to check the entry of goods at the entrance gates.

"We have applied for additional appointments for 100 new posts last year but only 82 appointments were approved and this is still short," he said.

He was speaking at a press conference in conjunction with a Working Visit Programme of the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industries, Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah to the Maqis office at the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (KSAB), Gelang Patah here, last night.

On December 2, the media reported that there was a syndicate smuggling in frozen meat from China, Ukraine, Brazil and Argentina before being repackaged with the halal logo at a warehouse in Senai, Johor Bahru.

Following the discovery, the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia, Johor (DPMMNJ) urged the government to investigate in an integrated manner the disclosure that a cartel was involved in halal label fraud, counterfeiting stamp and repackaging frozen meat imports for resale in the local market.

Commenting further, Dr Azhari Sharidah said in Port Klang, for example, there were only 24 personnel assigned to conduct manual inspections of 400 containers a day and this number is clearly not enough.

“The increase in staff is more important because our inspection is currently focused on imported goods that involve the use of frozen containers such as meat and fish.

"This is due to the products being classified as high risk items, especially meat because the product can only be imported from plants that have the approval of the Department of Veterinary Services Malaysia and the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia," he said.

Meanwhile, he also informed that MAQIS had issued a compound of about RM3 million on more than 700 offences recorded from January to November this year.

"The highest offence involves imported goods that did not to have a permit," he added.

-- BERNAMA