Revoke meat company’s permit if it broke the law, says Johor

ISKANDAR PUTERI: Johor will ask the Veterinary Department to revoke the approval permit (AP) of the company which was found to have stored pork and lamb in the same containers if the court finds it guilty.

State Agriculture, Agro-based Industry, Entrepreneurial and Cooperative Development Committee chairman Ismail Mohamed said the permits for meat and meat products were issued by the department.

“I was made to understand that the authorities are in the process of submitting documents to take the company to court,” he said at J-Biotech’s Hari Raya open house yesterday.

On Monday, the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services Department (Maqis) found boxes of pork and lamb stored in three containers from Spain at Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Gelang Patah.

The 120 tonnes of meat worth about RM2mil was brought in by a halal-certified company operating in Selangor.

The lamb and pork, which were kept in separate boxes but stacked together and stored in the same freezer containers, were seized during the raid.

Ismail said companies given the APs and halal certificates to import meat into the country must abide by the rules and should not take the requirements of the halal certificate for granted.

“Although the meat was packed in separate boxes, the fact that the boxes were stacked together could cause confusion.

“I was made to understand that meat brought in by the company is supplied to supermarkets, and incidents like this could cause consumers to lose confidence in meat products available in the market,” he said.