KUCHING: State Veterinary Services Department has stopped the import of poultry products from Netherland and Denmark since March last year.
Its director Dr Adrian Susin said the move came after following the high occurrence of avian influenza in both European countries.
“We only import halal meat from countries under the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE-certified) and countries that are free from Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD),” he told a press conference after chairing a special meeting with the halal enforcement special committee at Majma Tuanku Abdul Hali Mua’zam Shah Building here in Jalan P. Ramlee recently.
He further clarified that the Malaysian government had just revoked Netherland and Denmark import permits in Nov 2020.
Explaining the acquisition of the import halal permits, Dr Adrian said all poultry products from approved overseas slaughtering plants had to be inspected and audited by the Veterinary Services Department and Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) before they were allowed to import to Malaysia.
“However, not all products that have been audited by Putrajaya can enter Sarawak because all intending importers of livestock and livestock products must first consult our department and they have to apply for the required veterinary permits from us as well.
“The imported products must be accompanied by a valid veterinary import permit issued by the state’s Veterinary.
“The consignment also must be accompanied by a valid Veterinary Health certificate and a halal certificate issued by the competent authority of the exporting country,” he explained.
Dr Adrian also asserted that the state had enough supply of chicken for domestic consumption.
“The suspension was also made upon request by Sarawak Livestock Breeders Association.
“They appealed to state veterinary not to import chicken meat because Sarawak has enough supply.
“Our local poultry farms are capable of producing over 100,000 broiler chickens per day, with 90 percent of domestic consumption from the total daily production.
“Thus, the demand for imported chicken meat is not very encouraging,” he added.
As for meat, Dr Adrian pointed out that Sarawak still needed to import beef and buffalo meat from other countries due to low supply from the local abattoirs.
“We are very selective about the imports of beef and buffalo meat to the state.
“As for now, we only import halal beef from Australia and New Zealand and buffalo meat from a factory located in India,” he added.
