A Filipino veterinarian who works for the United States Department of Agriculture confirmed on Friday that fowls infected by Newcastle disease had been smuggled into the Philippines.
UNTV News reported that Dr. Brian Tan, a USDA accredited certifier, said that Northern California has been experiencing an outbreak of NCD in Southern California which has been affecting fowls since June this year.
“I think it started sometime in June or July this year and it was banned by the USDA, quarantined by USDA sometime in middle part of or early part of September. The quarantine area, chickens are not allowed to move in and out of that area but the people kept on doing that illegally,” Tan said.
The USDA official said that smugglers altered the shipments’ labels while still in the US, changing the ‘Southern California’ original label into Northern California where there is no record of NCD outbreak.
“They ship out under the name of the northern California shipper. So it looks like from northern California not from the south but actually most of them are from the South,’’ Tan said.
He said that a certain Ted Cruz, reportedly an influential Customs broker, facilitates the entry of the diseased fowls from Southern California.
“Iyong Bureau of Animal Industry tumawag dito sa USDA. Iyong mga dokumento ipinadala. Sinabi ng USDA sa kanya (na) fake iyon. Kaya nagalit ang Bureau of Animal Industry. Hinigpitan ngayon ang pangalawa kaya nilalakad ni Ted Cruz. Hindi umubra. Wala na. Nandoon na. Iyong pangatlo pinigil niya na huwag na i-ship. Na-withdraw. Kaya out of 78 grade, one-third is naipit, one-third na-release, one-third nandito pa. Malaking pera iyon,” Tan said.
Following the controversy, Tan urged the Philippine government be stricter when it comes to verifying import documents of products entering the country.
He also advised concerned government officials to check the authenticity of the documents or call or coordinate with USDA if necessary.
Tan, who has been working as an accredited veterinarian at the USDA for the past 30 years, also recommended that Customs officials identify and sanction Ted Cruz.
USDA’s counterpart in the country, the Department of Agriculture, already culled a total of 168 game fowls which were smuggled into the country discovered inside the compound of BAI.