Reports say a ban on pig imports from Vietnam since 2003 over foot-and-mouth disease concerns has not stopped a town in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region from engaging in rampant smuggling of the animal from the Southeast Asian country.
More than 15,000 live pigs are illegally shipped to China from Vietnam over "smuggling routes" in Aidian town, a national port, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Sunday.
Local inspection authorities have allegedly condoned the shipments, CCTV reported.
Aidian officials declined to comment when reached by the Global Times on Monday.
The smuggled pigs from Vietnam, which are 4 yuan ($0.58) cheaper per kilogram than Chinese pigs, escape an inspection or quarantine process, according to the report.
The thriving illegal pig imports in the area have been also promoted by "truck escorting teams," which not only guide the truck drivers loaded with smuggling pigs to bypass the frontier inspection stations, but also prevent them from being stopped by law enforcement officers tasked with investigating pig smuggling from Vietnam beyond the highway toll station.
The escorting teams usually buy plates from local counter-smuggling officials or public security departments for 30,000 yuan to provide them free passage.
One of the truck drivers told CCTV that the smuggled pigs are sent to slaughterhouses across the country, including Southwest China's Chengdu, Kunming and South China's Guangdong Province.
The smuggling chain consists of Vietnamese suppliers, Chinese traders and middlemen, the report said.
The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine have imposed a ban on live cloven-hoofed animals including pigs from Vietnam, where the foot-and-mouth disease has frequently surfaced from 2003 to 2016.
China's coast guard seized more than 200 tons of smuggled frozen meat from Vietnam in south China's Hainan Province in July 2015 and arrested 49 people.
Smuggling affects domestic food production, contributes to tax evasion, and poses serious food safety hazards, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
