Preventing pork smuggling into Ho Chi Minh City

Mr. Nguyen Tri Cong - Chairman of Dong Nai Livestock Association said that currently, smuggled pigs are no longer imported to wholesale markets but are transferred to other markets. The amount of smuggled pigs currently accounts for about 15% of the amount of pigs consumed in the southern provinces.

“Smuggled pork not only affects the domestic livestock industry but also poses a risk of spreading disease and food safety risks to consumers. In the future, competition from smuggled pork will seriously affect the total pig herd, leading to a shortage of domestic supply,” said Mr. Nguyen Tri Cong.

Meanwhile, at Hoc Mon wholesale market (Hoc Mon district), the place that supplies fresh pork accounting for about 50% of the pork market share in Ho Chi Minh City, is also facing difficulties with spontaneous businesses selling live pork along routes 3 and 12.

According to Mr. Le Van Tien - Director of Hoc Mon Market Management and Business Company Limited, the source of pork for spontaneous businesses is mainly from manual slaughterhouses, illegal slaughterhouses of unknown origin, and some businesses do not have a business license.

The preparation (cutting and peeling) and display of food are mainly done on the floor or right on the sidewalk, using untreated underground well water, so it does not ensure food hygiene and safety for consumers.

According to Lao Dong, spontaneous meat trading also occurs similarly around the outside of Binh Dien wholesale market (District 8).

Spontaneous pork trading points around Binh Dien wholesale market. Photo: Ha May

Faced with this situation, the Ho Chi Minh City Market Management Department has also strengthened inspection and strict control at city gateways, wholesale markets, and other trading areas to prevent and strictly handle cases of smuggling and unclear origin of livestock meat products, especially pork.

In January 2024, the City Market Management force participated in the interdisciplinary inspection teams of the City, districts and Thu Duc City such as the interdisciplinary food safety team, the interdisciplinary animal and poultry disease prevention team... inspected 89 cases, including 12 violations.

According to statistics from the Dong Nai Province Livestock Association, in the first two weeks of 2024, an average of 6,000 - 7,000 pigs were smuggled into Vietnam from Cambodia every night.

Calculations by this association show that the number of smuggled pigs accounts for about 30% of domestic livestock production sold every day. With the selling price of only about 50,000 VND/kg of live pigs, the domestic pork price is forced down, causing heavy losses for farmers.

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