Exporters to the Philippines would have to contend with Manila’s stringent rules for meat products for now, as the government stood pat on its decision to continue implementing its “zero-tolerance” policy on salmonella.
The National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), which issued Memorandum Circular (MC) 9-2008-5, is adamant that the policy should remain in force despite the appeal of meat importers and processors to review it and make it consistent with international standards.
“As I have said, we will not compromise. We are doing this to safeguard public health, because that is our main objective,” NMIS Executive Director Ernesto S. Gonzalez told the BusinessMirror in an interview.
“We set the guidelines; we set the policy, so [meat importers and processors] would have to comply with that. If they cannot, then I am sorry,” Gonzalez added.
The NMIS chief said meat processors and importers could consider raising the matter of reviewing the zero-tolerance policy with Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol.
“The NMIS recommends policies and it is up to the secretary whether he would approve it or not,” Gonzalez said. In an earlier interview, Piñol said he is open to the possibility of discussing the government’s zero-tolerance policy with stakeholders in the local meat industry.
“We cannot just implement what [meat industry stakeholders] are recommending. We need to study the recommendation; we cannot just change policies overnight,” he said.
Earlier, both the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) and Meat Importers and Traders Association (Mita) urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to reconsider its zero-tolerance policy as it is “inconsistent” with international standards.
Pampi and Mita made the appeal after the DA banned Brazilian meat imports. The ban was imposed following the release of laboratory results, which indicated that some shipments had salmonella.
Mita President Jesus C. Cham told the BusinessMirror that the tests conducted by DA on meat imports under its zero-tolerance policy are not in accordance with the Codex Alimentarius, or Food Code.
“With regard to MC 9-2008-5, our view is that it has erroneously classified fresh frozen meat and offal as being under two separate cases—Case 1 and Case 10. It has also classified fresh frozen comminuted meat under two separate cases—Case 1 and Case 4,” Cham said in a letter to Gonzalez dated July 13.
“Obviously, it is physically impossible for meat and offal to be both raw and cooked at the same time. It has to be one or the other. As well, mechanically deboned meat [MDM] of chicken is not fish,” he added.
The Mita asked the DA to amend MC 9-2008-5 so it would adhere to the recommendations of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
“As a logical consequence, we request that the zero-tolerance policy on salmonella on raw meat be discontinued,” Cham said.
Meanwhile, Pampi warned that the government’s decision to ban meat imports from Brazil could increase the retail price of some processed-meat products sold locally.
“We support 101 percent that there should be zero tolerance for salmonella in finished products, but not for raw materials, which undergo a kill process”, Pampi Director Rex E. Agarrado earlier told the BusinessMirror.
Agarrado noted that other countries and renowned institutions, such as the North American Meat Institute, has ruled out that salmonella in ground beef and chicken mechanically deboned meat that are intended to be cooked “does not constitute a violation of federal rules since cooking destroys this”.
He also said the United Kingdom does not have standards for salmonella in minced beef or MDM. “Likewise, Australia recognizes—and uses the word politically—an unavoidable levels of salmonella in raw chicken or material,” he said. “In a baseline study in 2010 they found that raw poultry that is being sold in the market is likely to be contaminated with salmonella.”
Sought for comment regarding Pampi’s warning, Gonzalez said: “Let it be. As I have mentioned, food safety is our priority. They have to comply with our policies. We cannot do anything about it [price spikes]”.
Gonzalez said the DA will immediately lift the ban imposed Brazilian foreign meat establishments (FMEs) once they are declared free of any salmonella incidence. He added that it could probably take about a month to complete the inspection and release the results.
The NMIS chief said the government’s investigation team would likely leave for Brazil on August 12. While salmonella is easily killed when cooked at a temperature of at least 70 degrees centigrade, Gonzalez said all strains of salmonella are “harmful” to humans.
“All strains of salmonella are harmful to humans, that doesn’t change. The effect depends on the amount of contaminated food you have consumed,” he said. “If you eat a chicken that is heavily infested with salmonella, you can even die.”
The NMIS, however, made an assurance that Philippine markets remain free of salmonella-tainted meat products. Gonzalez said the agency has also not recorded any new cases of shipments contaminated with the bacteria since July. The NMIS, an attached agency of the DA, is the sole national controlling authority on all matters pertaining to meat inspection and hygiene.
Data from the Bureau of Animal Industry showed that the country’s meat imports in the first half of the year declined by nearly 13 percent to 280,269.056 metric tons (MT), from 322,013.273 MT a year ago.