[PHNOM PENH POST]
CAMBODIAN border officials have halted imports of chicken from Thailand, following a Ministry of Commerce directive.
The
directive, signed by Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh, asked officials to
halt chicken imports from Thailand because of health concerns.
Thai
health authorities had recently taken measures against chicken
slaughterhouses in Nakhon Ratchasima province, where dead chickens
preserved in formalin – a solution of formaldehyde – were being sold at
markets, the directive said.
“The Ministry of Commerce instructs
all levels of authorities along the border between Cambodia and Thailand
to prevent all imports of chicken products from Thailand – whether the
products have a sanitat-ion certificate or not – in order to protect our
peoples’ health.’’
The directive also claimed that people who
consumed chickens preserved in formalin could suffer skin irritation,
stomach inflammation, vomiting and diarrhoea, and that prolonged
consumption could cause damage to the nervous system, sterility and
cancer.
Nguy Cheang, deputy chief of the O’Smach border
checkpoint in Oddar Meancheay province, confirmed that officials had
received the directives and were co-operating with relevant authorities
along the border to check imported products.
Nguy Cheang added that local residents had imported between 100 and 200 kilogrammes of chicken, pork and beef for consumption.
Hean
Sinat, deputy director of the provincial Camcontrol department, said he
had appealed to the authorities for years to ban the import of certain
birds from Thailand since the outbreak of bird flu.
“The Ministry
has prohibited the import of meat and eggs of ducks and chickens and
some other foods made from meat, as well as other kinds of eggs from
Thailand, because they can impact on consumers’ health,” he said.
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