Minister for Commerce and Supplies Ganesh Man Pun inspected around a dozen slaughterhouses in different parts of Kathmandu Valley on Friday. One of the slaughterhouses at Satungal, Moj Meat Center, was sealed for selling contaminated meat following the inspection.

The monitoring team also took the owner of the slaughterhouse into custody and disposed of the substandard meat before shuttering the facility.

 “It is illegal to sell unhygienic meat because it could impact public health as well as our environment. We will take action against those found selling substandard products,” the supplies minister said.

This is not the first time the authorities have inspected slaughterhouses and meat shops inside the Valley.

Five months ago, Kathmandu Metropolitan City had seized over 500 kg of rotten meat from a butcher’s shop in Sundhara. There are around 400 slaughterhouses and around 2,500 small meat shops inside the Valley.

The Animal Slaughterhouse and Meat Inspection Act of 1999 states that those found guilty of selling contaminated meat could face a jail term up to three months and a fine up to 20,000 or both.

Jyoti Baniya, the president of Consumers’ Welfare Protection Forum, has urged the government and the authorities concerned to strictly implement the Act, and conduct market inspections on a regular basis.