NTB Quarantine Destroys 5.96 Tonnes of Undocumented Chicken Meat from East Java

Mataram (ANTARA) - The NTB Quarantine Agency has destroyed 5.96 tonnes of chicken meat without official documents originating from East Java (Jatim) that entered through Lembar Port in West Lombok Regency.

NTB Quarantine Chief Ina Soelistyani stated that quarantine documents are not merely administrative requirements but crucial instruments for ensuring traceability and food safety.

“Without those documents, the commodity is considered risky because its health and safety status cannot be traced,” she said in a statement in Mataram on Friday.

Ina explained that the destruction of the chicken meat was carried out by burying it and pouring bioactivator liquid to accelerate the decomposition of the organic material on the NTB Quarantine office grounds.

The 5.96 tonnes of chicken meat was transported using a non-refrigerated truck, and the packaging and storage conditions did not meet the required technical standards.

According to her, every movement of animal products, such as fresh chicken meat, is crucial to implement cold chain standards, as stable storage temperatures help suppress microbial growth.

Poor packaging and non-standard storage temperatures pose a high risk, she said, of triggering contamination and accelerating spoilage during distribution, which could reduce food safety levels before reaching consumers.

Furthermore, she conveyed that oversight of commodity movements is part of the primary duties of the Quarantine Agency as stipulated in Article 7 of Law No. 21 of 2019, one of whose aims is to ensure food safety.

The NTB Quarantine Agency appreciates the cross-agency synergy, including with police apparatus, in strengthening oversight of the circulation of animal, fish, and plant commodities in the NTB region.

“This is our real commitment to maintaining the safety and suitability of food entering NTB,” said NTB Quarantine Chief Ina Soelistyani.