In the first nine months of 2023, Vietnamese authorities discovered 131 cases of smuggled live poultry, an increase of 14.5 times compared to 2022. — Vietnam News
HANOI: Businesses and small livestock farmers are severely affected by illegal smuggling of poultry breeds and products into Vietnam, according to Vietnam Poultry Association chairman Nguyen Thanh Son.
Speaking at a conference on preventing illegal import of cattle and poultry, Son said that in the past two years, the livestock industry has had to overcome many difficulties due to the market crisis, post-Covid-19 period and geopolitical developments.
The event was organised by the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry.
“In that context, illegal imports have made the domestic market more difficult. Leading enterprises in the association have suffered heavy losses of up to hundreds of billions of dong.”
In the first nine months of 2023, Vietnamese authorities discovered 131 cases of smuggled live poultry, an increase of 14.5 times compared to 2022.
At present, domestic poultry farmers are preparing to supply poultry products for the end of the year, so demand increases.
Smugglers have promoted the illegal import of poultry breeds to Vietnam to meet the demand, especially at border gates.
According to the association, the amount of live chickens imported illegally across the border has increased to 200,000 to 250,000 tonnes each year.
Every month, tens of thousands of tonnes of chicken are smuggled into Vietnam.
The smuggling of poultry and cattle has caused diseases and created unfair competition, Son said.
Vietnam Livestock Association chairman Nguyen Xuan Duong said if the illegal imports are not dealt with, it will lead to an outbreak of diseases, as most of the diseases in the domestic livestock industry come from illegally imported poultry and cattle.
He said the situation also threatens the health of consumers and can cause losses in the domestic market.
This has forced domestic livestock producers to sell their products at lower prices while the number of imports keeps increasing, especially illegal imports, Duong said.
He has also expressed concerns about small farmers and farms. They may not be able to collect their capital and reinvest in production for next year. — Viet Nam News/ANN
