China seizes 6,000 tonnes of smuggled frozen meat

More than 6,000 tonnes of smuggled frozen meat worth 345 million yuan (55.6 million U.S. dollars) was seized in Shenzhen City in the southern province of Guangdong, local authorities announced on Wednesday.

The frozen meat was mainly smuggled from the United States, Brazil and Finland, according to authorities with the Market and Quality Supervision Commission of Shenzhen Municipality.

The smuggled beef, pork and chicken have not been sold on the domestic food market, authorities said.

Law enforcement officers found more than 200 tonnes of smuggled frozen meat at the city's Jiaming cold storage company on March 19, and the rest of the meat was confiscated within 15 days.

According to the Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, 72 of 798 meat samples that were randomly inspected did not meet qualifications. Most were found to be expired or contain excessive levels of the feed additive ractopamine.

Smuggling affects domestic food production, contributes to tax evasion, and poses serious food safety hazards, authorities with the committee said. Endi