Part I: Illegal cattle crossing the border
(Baonghean) -Every day, on average, hundreds of cows are herded by local people through unofficial routes across the border near Nam Can border gate. Then, with just a few "tricks", these cows and buffaloes continue to be legalized as local cows and buffaloes easily to be brought downstream, while the foot-and-mouth disease epidemic is still complicated.
Cattle crossing the border
In mid-October, we went to Nam Can Border Gate (Ky Son). It was noon when we reached Tien Tieu village (about 2km from the border gate). Here, we saw herds of buffalo and cows gathered on both sides of the road. Some were being herded onto cars, and each one looked plump and fat. Vu Pa Re "revealed": "These are Laotian cows". Thinking we were "big customers", Re excitedly said: "We had to go all the way to Xieng Khouang and Vientiane (Laos) to buy them. We traveled for a whole week, and on lucky days we could only buy a dozen. Whenever we were able to herd them across the border, a broker would come by car to transport them. That said, the journey was very difficult, we had to wade through forests and wade through streams, and get bitten by leeches until our bodies swelled. The "cow-going" people all herded the cows back and gathered at Din Dam village (Nong Het district, Laos), then continued to herd them back through the forest along the two sides of the Nam Can Border Gate"...
In the role of a person buying cows to slaughter and sell, we approached Mr. Lau Ba Gi (Tien Tieu village, Nam Can commune, Ky Son district). Mr. Gi said: "There are a lot of cows there, they sell them for 10-20 million VND/head. Because they don't have enough money, relatives pool their capital to buy, each person about 20-30 million. Many people who don't have money go to work as cattle herders for the shop owners, after each cow is herded across the border, they are paid from 60-100 thousand VND. After having the goods, the brokers come to choose the cows and then bargain, when both sides "agree to buy and sell", the cows will be gathered on both sides of the road waiting for enough goods, the brokers will bring their vehicles to transport them back. Each cattle gathering area has from 15 to 30 cows, marked with codes and symbols of each broker.
When we wanted to go to Laos to buy cows to sell, Mr. Gi discouraged us: "Only the Mong people know the way and the language, you just stay here and wait for the goods to be brought back." Nam Can commune has 3 villages (Tien Tieu, Truong Son, Huech Poc) where the Mong people are the ones who do the most cattle trading in the commune. Thanks to this profession, many households have become well-off.
According to local people here, Nam Can Border Gate is the largest supplier of buffaloes and cows in the Central region. The goods are mainly supplied to the Northern provinces, and many shipments are even sent to Ho Chi Minh City. Each buffalo or cow weighing from 80 to 100 kg costs 12 to 16 million VND. Each truck carries 15 to 20 buffaloes, and when the demand is high, the profit is from 10 to 20 million VND.
We followed some Mong people who hired them to herd cattle to several other "gathering" locations. Here, the cattle were herded into paddocks, each holding from a few dozen to more than 50 cattle. We saw several cars full of cattle with their engines running. The process of herding cattle across the border and loading them into cars was very public and no authorities checked.
People herd buffalo and cows openly without any inspection by authorities.
Buffaloes and cows were gathered on both sides of the road waiting for traders from the lowlands to come and transport them back.
Laotian cows "transformed" into Vietnamese cows
Lau Ba Gi "set the price": "You can buy as many buffaloes and cows as you want, but to be trustworthy, you have to deposit from 500 thousand to 1 million VND per cow". "What if when we get to Muong Xen Town, the authorities check and discover that the buffaloes and cows are of unknown origin?" - We asked. Lau Ba Thai (Huech Poc village, Nam Can commune), a "cow herder", laughed: "As long as you have a cow sale paper with the confirmation stamp and signature of the commune chairman, you can take them downstream without being arrested".
Mr. Nguyen The Do - Head of Nghe An Veterinary Department |
Talking to us about the issue of people going across the border to buy cows to sell, Mr. Ho Chong Nhia, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Can commune admitted: "People trading buffaloes and cows has been around for a long time and has become a custom and practice. Out of 4 villages in the commune, 3 of them are Mong people. Some people go to Laos to buy buffaloes and cows to sell through unofficial routes and mountain trails." Regarding the issue of whether or not the commune "assisted" in stamping and confirming that the buffaloes and cows were local, Mr. Nhia said: "The commune only stamps after the village chief confirms that the cows are local. The amount of money the commune collects is the parking fee, small vehicles collect 100,000 VND, large vehicles collect 150,000 VND. This amount is assigned by the district and is paid to the Treasury at the end of the year. In 2011, Nam Can commune was assigned by the district to collect 36 million VND, but so far it has only collected nearly 25 million VND."
Mr. Nhia added: "Every day, Nam Can commune sells an average of 20 cows. Currently, Nam Can commune has 723 households, but the number of buffaloes and cows in the commune is up to 4,000." Thus, on average, each household raises 5-7 buffaloes and cows, several times more than communes in the plains. However, when asked about the poverty rate of the commune, Mr. Nhia said that up to 95% of households in the commune are poor.
We observed the Nam Can Border Gate area for nearly a day but did not see any authorities come to check the origin and quarantine of the cattle. A leader of the Nam Can Border Gate Customs Branch said: "Cows and buffaloes often travel from Laos via unofficial routes, but when inspected, all of these cattle and buffaloes were confirmed by the local authorities as local cattle and buffaloes. The Branch has detained many cases but then had to release them. It is very difficult to distinguish between Lao cattle and cattle raised by local people. Therefore, ending the illegal trade of cattle and buffaloes across the border is not easy."
At Nam Can Border Gate, there is the Animal Quarantine Station (under the veterinary agency of region 3). When we entered the station, there was no one there. According to people living nearby, this station usually only has one officer named Hanh on duty and stationed here. But now, Hanh has gone back to the lowlands and may not return for a few more days.
The situation of smuggling and transporting buffalo and cows across the border in large quantities in Nam Can commune has not been strictly controlled. The consequences of disease outbreaks from buffalo and cows are inevitable. The province and relevant agencies need to soon have effective solutions to prevent buffalo and cows from being smuggled through Nam Can border gate, avoiding the spread of disease when these cows have been "naturalized".
(continued)
Reporter Group
