(30-07-2008)
HCM CITY — Hundreds of cattle are brought into Viet Nam from Cambodia every day, at the risk of exposing the population to possible diseases as most are believed to be not thoroughly quarantined, officials have warned.
The high demand for red meat in urban areas is in part to blame for the surge in smuggling, according to Pham Van Son, head of the My Quy Tay Commune’s People’s Committee in Long An Province.
He says that most cattle imported from Cambodia are shipped to big cities like HCM City and adjacent areas.
"It is hard to manage the number of cattle in the area since people trade them as their assets all the time," Son says.
The southwest border area, especially Tri Ton and Tinh Bien Districts of An Giang Province, has the biggest market for smuggled cattle.
Most cattle transported to Viet Nam from Cambodia are bought at low prices from family farms unable to raise livestock due to a drought and lack of grass this year, according to Binh Co, a resident near the Tinh Bien border.
More and more people are lured by the high profit margins of VND200,000 – 250,000 (US$12.50-16.30) from smuggling an animal.
Smugglers usually drive small herds of cattle on foot or larger herds by boat past the border at night.
Others take advantage of the government’s policy on free goods exchange at border gates to import cattle.
Upon being discovered, smugglers tell border agents they had fed the herd in neighbouring fields and were driving them home, Binh says.
Smugglers began to expand operations to border areas like An Giang or Dong Thap Provinces – places with sporadic market management.
An official from Long An Province’s Animal Health Agency admits that the situation is out of control.
Animal Health Agencies do not have the right to hold cattle if they are healthy, which is an advantage for smugglers, says Duong Minh Phi, deputy director of Long An Province’s Animal Health Agency.
Given the current influx of imported cattle, Phi says he is not sure if all of them are really healthy. — VNS
HCM CITY — Hundreds of cattle are brought into Viet Nam from Cambodia every day, at the risk of exposing the population to possible diseases as most are believed to be not thoroughly quarantined, officials have warned.
The high demand for red meat in urban areas is in part to blame for the surge in smuggling, according to Pham Van Son, head of the My Quy Tay Commune’s People’s Committee in Long An Province.
He says that most cattle imported from Cambodia are shipped to big cities like HCM City and adjacent areas.
"It is hard to manage the number of cattle in the area since people trade them as their assets all the time," Son says.
The southwest border area, especially Tri Ton and Tinh Bien Districts of An Giang Province, has the biggest market for smuggled cattle.
Most cattle transported to Viet Nam from Cambodia are bought at low prices from family farms unable to raise livestock due to a drought and lack of grass this year, according to Binh Co, a resident near the Tinh Bien border.
More and more people are lured by the high profit margins of VND200,000 – 250,000 (US$12.50-16.30) from smuggling an animal.
Smugglers usually drive small herds of cattle on foot or larger herds by boat past the border at night.
Others take advantage of the government’s policy on free goods exchange at border gates to import cattle.
Upon being discovered, smugglers tell border agents they had fed the herd in neighbouring fields and were driving them home, Binh says.
Smugglers began to expand operations to border areas like An Giang or Dong Thap Provinces – places with sporadic market management.
An official from Long An Province’s Animal Health Agency admits that the situation is out of control.
Animal Health Agencies do not have the right to hold cattle if they are healthy, which is an advantage for smugglers, says Duong Minh Phi, deputy director of Long An Province’s Animal Health Agency.
Given the current influx of imported cattle, Phi says he is not sure if all of them are really healthy. — VNS
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