MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) condemned at least two tons of seized unregistered medicine and expired food and meat products during an operation in Trece Martires, Cavite.
BOC said in a report on Friday that the medicines did not have required clearances from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which may indicate that it is unsafe for consumption.
However, Customs did not specify the purpose and the make of the medicines, and its point of origin.
“Some of the shipments that were condemned are unregistered medicines with an estimated weight of 350 kilos. These medicines were seized for failure to obtain necessary clearance from the [FDA] and thus, unsafe for human consumption,” BOC said.
“The condemnation of the unregistered medicines is part of Bureau of Customs border protection initiatives to protect the public against unsafe medicines,” they added.
The expired food and meat products seized also did not have the necessary health permits According to BOC, the seized contrabands were condemned using a Themal Decomposer (Pyrolysis) Facility.
“The thermal decomposer will ensure the safety and no single waste item will find its way to the market,” BOC said.
“The condemnation was coordinated with Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Agriculture (DA), Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and Commission on Audit (CoA),” they added.
Recently, law enforcement agencies have done several operations targeting Chinese medicines that allegedly cure COVID-19, but are currently not registered with the FDA.
The World Health Organization previously clarified that there is no recommended single medicine to treat the effects of the coronavirus strain. As of now, health experts are using several HIV medicines and interferons to cure COVID-19 patients.