Dong Nai province's Livestock Association has said that pig-farming members using growth-stimulating additives would face strict punishments, including a fine of VND100 million and a three-month operation suspension.
Dong Nai province's Livestock Association has said that pig-farming members using growth-stimulating additives would face strict punishments, including a fine of VND100 million and a three-month operation suspension.
The association quoted National Argo Forestry Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (Nafiqad) as saying the number of provinces and cities that violate regulations on food hygiene safety has risen.
To avoid being censured by Nafiqad, the association finds it necessary to prevent growth-stimulating additives usage as it is in the interests of the majority of local pig farmers and to ensure a safe pork supply for consumers.
“We have called on farmers not to use the forbidden additives”, chairman Nguyen Tri Cong told the Daily in a meeting with the association’s members on Wednesday. “The purpose is to protect the benefits of the majority of local farming areas that do not use these harmful additives from being hampered by the violation of just a few others,” Cong stated.
According to Cong, his association has specific proof that a number of pig production areas in Dong Nai Province have used growth-stimulating additives.
Cong asserted that those members that are found violating the rule would be dealt with severely. Also, he added, they must hand in a VND100 million fine and stop their production for three months in line with the association’s regulations.
Associate Professor Duong Thanh Liem of the Husbandry-Veterinary Faculty at the HCMC University of Agriculture and Forestry said a number of pig farmers had relied on growth-stimulating additives to shorten the farming time.
The use of these toxic substances was banned globally many years ago as it was considered dangerous to consumers’ health and considered one of the causes of gender identity disorder or cancers, Liem explained.
(Source: SGT)
