INTERNATIONAL carriers will undertake the cost of re-exporting banned milk and milk products to China. This guarantees that no such shipments are loaded onto Philippine-bound carriers, Customs commissioner Napoleon Morales said in a press briefing.
“No import entry for milk products from China will be processed. Because the bureau is now computerized, the guidelines for that particular product are already inputted in our computer. So if you type in milk and it is a China brand, the computer will no longer process it,” he said.
The decision stems from a Department of Health order calling for a total ban on milk and milk products from China after a major Chinese manufacturer was found to have tainted its baby formula with melamine, an industrial chemical used to produce plastic, to boost the protein content of its products.
Thousands of children developed kidney stones after drinking the baby formula.
Instead of condemning the contraband items, Morales said it is more practical that these be re-exported to China.
Over the weekend, there were newspaper reports of a shipment of milk from China that arrived in the country for which there was no import entry.
“If the BFAD (Bureau of Food and Drugs) will approve it, (the shipment) will be re-exported back. This is better because Customs no longer needs to condemn it. We have no profit for this. We will ask the shipping lines to cover the expense for the re-exportation. They have to do this because they will not be able to get their containers back until the items are disposed (of),” Morales said, adding each container costs P50,000.
