USDA is stepping up efforts to stop smuggling which could expose our nation’s hog herd to African swine fever.
Over the last three months, the feds have seized nearly a ton of illegal meat products, just in New York. Many of them were from China and lacked the required import permits and health certificates.
A USDA Undersecretary says that the foods pose a risk of carrying foreign disease.
“African swine fever has never been found in the United States and all of us at USDA want to make sure that we keep it that way... all part of interlocking safeguards that we have in place,” USDA’s Jenny Moffitt explains.
Last year, the government seized more than a hundred tons of smuggled food at ports and borders, or when it was already in the country.
