COLD storage facilities should be inspected more frequently by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) to mitigate smuggling of meat products.
Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez is proposing a quarterly inspection as opposed to the current annual.
"Imported meat products arrive here in bulk and you cannot bring all those to the restaurants (in one go). Those are stored in cold storage facilities," he said.
A more frequent inspection gives the NMIS more opportunity to check whether warehoused meat products have the necessary import papers or not.
In addition, agriculture staff stationed at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) should be reshuffled every so often to avoid their collusion with importers, Alvarez said.
"I told (Agriculture) Secretary (Proceso) Alcala that over the years the same people have been assigned to the same areas," Alvarez said, making them overly familiar with importers. "Familiarity breeds contempt, as they say."
Alvarez said a regular reshuffle is easier to do than prosecuting DA staff in connivance with importers.
