The Department of Agriculture (DA) has allowed the use of all sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPS-IC) for off-loaded shipments of imported live poultry to safeguard the health of the animals and streamline the process of issuing permits.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol issued Memorandum Circular 11 dated December 12 authorizing the use of SPS-ICs for short-landed shipments of live poultry.
“There are instances that the total number of poultry cannot be accommodated in flight and may be off-loaded at country of origin to be shipped on the next available flight,” Piñol said in the order.
“There is a need to consider the welfare of the animals during the transport period,” he added.
Importers will be allowed to utilize the SPS-IC for short-landed importation of live poultry on three conditions.
First, the batch of birds off-loaded on the first shipment must arrive within three days after the arrival of the first batch of imports.
Second, live poultry that would be off-loaded must remain at the airport while waiting for boarding for the next available flight as certified by the airline.
And last, the quarantine period for the imported live poultry would only commence upon the arrival of the last bird in approved quarantine site.
Piñol’s order amends DA Administrative Order 9, Series of 2010, which ordered that SPS-IC “shall be good for one shipment and is not transferable to other persons.” The previous order was issued by former Agriculture Secretary Bernie G. Fondevilla.
The country imports poultry products, including live chicken, from European and North American countries.
The increasing demand for meat owing to the improvement in the purchasing power of Filipinos would outpace local production and double the country’s imports by 2027.
The joint report of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, titled, “Agricultural Outlook 2018-2027,” published on July 3 indicated the sustained hike in meat demand in the Philippines.
“Strong production growth rates over the outlook period are also expected in Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, the United States and Vietnam,” the report read.
The joint report projected that the Philippines’s total meat production from 2018 to 2027 would expand at an average rate of 1.95 percent, slower than the 2.93 percent recorded from 2008 to 2017.
In 2027, the country’s total meat output would reach 4.397 million metric tons in carcass weight (MMT-CWE), 26.68 percent higher than the 2015-2017 average production of 3.471 MMT-CWE.