MANILA, Philippines—More than two million kilograms of milk imported from China were able to enter the country this year, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said Thursday.

Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said 2,138,397 kilograms of Chinese milk were imported from January to August.

“The milk, both concentrated (sweetened) and not, [were] sold in markets and stores all over the Philippines,” Morales said in an interview.

The bureau has identified Fly Ace Corp. and Fonterra Brands Phils. Inc. as the local importers of Chinese milk.

Fly Ace Corp. imports the Jolly Cow milk brand while Fonterra Brands Phils. Inc. is behind the entry of Anchor Wam flavored milk drinks into the country, according to Morales.

Four children in China have died and more than 54,000 have fallen ill after drinking milk tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, which damages the kidney.

Melamine has been found in infant formula and other milk products from 22 of China’s dairy companies.

With the world’s third biggest dairy sector, China’s milk powder exports in 2007 grew to 62,000 tons, an increase of more than 200 percent from 2006.

Six companies

On an unofficial list given to the Philippine Daily Inquirer by a ranking official of the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD), at least six local companies were registered to be importing milk products from China.

These include Fonterra Brands Philippines Inc., Buy Low Discount Store Inc., East Link Ventures, Gentro Philippines Inc., Highmark International Marketing Corp., and Molina & Sons Philippines Inc.

The list, however, did not name the specific milk products of these importers.

The Department of Health has already ordered the revocation of licenses of importers of milk products from China.

Based on its initial findings, the DOH assured the public the country remained free of melamine-laced milk and milk products from China.

“There are no indicators yet that we have been affected,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III Thursday said in a phone interview after he led an unscheduled inspection of stores selling Chinese products in the Divisoria Market in Manila City.

Though he already ordered that children with kidney problems be monitored for possible exposure to contaminated milk, no case has been confirmed to have been caused by contaminated milk so far.

Don’t wait for list

Duque reiterated that the DOH had not released any list of banned brands although he said the department would probably release a list of products that would test positive for melamine.

“If the milk is made from China, then don’t buy it. They should not wait for a list,” Duque said.

He also warned retail outlets to remove from their shelves all China-made milk and milk products or the health department would file charges against them. Violating outlets also stand to lose their business permits.

This is the same warning he gave a store owner in the Divisoria Market which he found Thursday to be still selling milk products from China.

But most stores have complied with the order of the health department banning the importation and sale of all milk and milk products from China, according to Duque.

Police in Binondo Thursday found three stalls at Meisic and 168 Mall selling bottled milk and milk candies from China.

Supt. Nelson Yabut, chief of MPD Meisic station, said the sample products his men took from the stalls would be taken to BFAD for analysis.

Needle in haystack

In a circular issued to all BOC district and port collectors Thursday, Morales said all licenses of Chinese milk and dairy product importers had been revoked following the DOH ban on the importation, distribution and sale of infant formula and milk from China.

“Whoever brings in these products would be subjected to criminal prosecution,” he said.
Over at the National Epidemiology Center, its director, Dr. Enrique Tayag, said his office was still waiting for reports from government hospitals which have been tasked with reviewing the cases of children diagnosed with kidney problems.

“This is like looking for needles in a haystack,” Tayag said. He noted that the development of kidney stones among infants in the country “is very rare.”

Breastfeeding

He said few cases of kidney stones among children had been traced to high salt diets usually caused by heavy intake of junk food.

The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund Thursday renewed their appeal to mothers to breast-feed their babies.

“Ideally, all infants should be fed exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life. No other liquid or food, not even water, is needed during this period,” the WHO and the UNICEF said in a joint statement. With a report from Tina G. Santos