Seizure: The Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority (BAFRA) will dump 12,989kgs of frozen chicken meat. During an inspection on June 6, the authority found that the packaged meat were rotten.

BAFRA officials also found that the consignment was not illegally brought in.

The officer-in-charge with the BAFRA office in Phuentsholing, Phuntsho, said that the packaged meat had started to rot as there was a problem with the vehicle’s freezer.

“The supplier had not noticed it,” he said, adding that the truck carrying meat comes sealed, which is opened only in the presence of BAFRA officials. “It could have happened because of the defect in the freezer.”

A doctor from the meat-processing unit in Tamil Nadu, India had come to Phuentsholing to check the meat.

In another incident, the authority also seized 20kgs of chicken meat at the Phuentsholing gate that was being transported illegally into Bhutan.

Rajesh Rai | Phuentsholing