VSD to conduct spot checks on bird's nest factories

Posted on 25 August 2011 - 05:26am
Last updated on 25 August 2011 - 09:27am

Kong See Hoh
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA (Aug 24, 2011): The Veterinary Services Department (VSD) will conduct spot checks on bird’s nest processing factories to ensure only top quality nest is produced for export.
Federation of the Edible Bird’s Nest Merchants Association deputy chairman Datuk Choot Seng Chai said the federation welcomes the move.
He said the move would show consumers in China that Malaysia does not produce low-quality bird’s nest.
“We don’t want the industry’s image to be tarnished by unscrupulous traders. We have never wanted to compromise the health of consumers in China (by poor quality bird’s nest),” he said, with reference to reports in China of fake, poor quality bird’s nest products or “blood” bird’s nest with high levels of nitrite in China, which were said to have come from Malaysia.
He told Oriental Daily News that the bird’s nest industry and the government need to work closely together to restore the confidence of the Chinese in bird’s nest from Malaysia.
He said local bird’s nest merchants are considering hiring independent foreign experts to carry out tests on bird’s nest produced here to give Malaysian products the seal of approval.
Aside from this, he said the government will make arrangements for Chinese government officials to get first-hand knowledge of how bird’s nest is harvested and cleaned.
“This shows that the Malaysian government is concerned over the incident (of Malaysian bird’s nest taken off the shelves in China for having nitrite exceeding the permissible levels).
“We will also show (the Chinese) that we are not a factory churning out fake bird’s nest.”
Choot, who attended a dialogue between the department and players in the bird’s nest industry on Monday, said the government must step in to resolve the controversy surrounding fake bird’s nest.
He said government-to-government negotiations are needed now, following which bird’s nest merchants will have to do the needful to restore Chinese consumers’ confidence in our bird’s nest.
“Perhaps, the bird’s nest merchants may have to get world No. 1 badminton player Datuk Lee Chong Wei’s as brand ambassador for their products to boost the image of Malaysian bird’s nest,” he said in jest.
On department director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin’s remark at the dialogue that the majority of the low-quality bird’s nest found in China are from Indonesia, Choot explained that because Indonesian and Thai bird’s nest merchants cannot export their products direct to China, many of their products are repackaged in Malaysia before they are shipped to Hongkong, and eventually China.
“We don’t know if they (Indonesian merchants) have done anything to the bird’s nest, but unfortunately, Malaysian merchants are taking the rap,” he said.