Sabahans need not worry about imported meat status - Deputy CM

KOTA KINABALU: Sabahans need not worry about the status of imported meat because the state has strict laws and regulations regarding imports, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

The Sabah Agriculture and Fisheries Minister said the state does not allow raw meat to be brought into Sabah from peninsular Malaysia and the state has authority to regulate the import and export of animals and animal products under the state Animal Enactment 2015.

"Sabah has also been given Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)-free status since May 2004, meaning Sabah will place tougher requirements on imports of animal and animal products in order to maintain the FMD-free status as recommended by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

"Sabah imports only meat from OIE-certified FMD-free countries or at least the animal must be sourced from countries with OIE-certified FMD-free areas,” he said in a statement last night.

Recently, it has been reported that a cartel has imported meat from non-halal-certified slaughterhouses in countries such as China, Brazil and Argentina and repackaged it for sale as halal meat in Malaysia.

Jeffrey said Sabah is still dependent on meat imports, as the state currently produces just 10 per cent of the state’s meat demand.

“Currently, we only import meat from Australia and New Zealand and a special facility in Aurangabad, India that produces frozen buffalo meat Allana to meet high-quality meat requirements,” he said.

He added that Sabah only imports meat from premises registered under the list of overseas abattoirs approved by a central agency which included the Malaysian Veterinary Services Department (DVS), Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (Jakim) and the Health Ministry.

“Sabah only allows direct shipment from countries where the meat originated to Sabah ports or airports. If transhipments or in-transits are necessary, strict requirements shall be imposed on the consignment, such as seals from the original countries must not be tampered with in any way whatsoever.

“As such, the ministry through the Sabah DVS is confident the state is free from such scandal and we are confident of the wholesomeness of the meat in Sabah," he said.

-- BERNAMA