THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has resumed the issuance of permits to meat processors who will import pork from African swine fever (ASF) high-risk countries to ensure that the Philippines will have a steady supply of ham during Christmas.
Government and industry sources familiar with the matter told the BusinessMirror
that the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) is now issuing sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) permits, which are required prior to importation.
The BAI, an attached agency of the DA, is also issuing SPS permits to traders and importers who could show purchase orders or contracts that prove their shipments will be sold to processors and not in wet markets.
The bureau relaxed the restrictions on pork imports from ASF high-risk countries after the DA found that the shortfall in supply could reach 40 million kilograms in three months if Manila maintains stringent trade rules, which some quarters have questioned.
ASF high-risk countries that were disallowed from shipping to the Philippines include the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and France. They were deemed “high risk” even though they have had no outbreaks, because they share common borders with countries that declared ASF outbreaks, such as Belgium and Hungary.
Government sources said the stringent trade rules will hit meat processors the hardest as they source most of their raw materials from the four European countries.
The four European countries accounted for at least 35.5 percent of the country’s total pork imports last year, with a total volume of 139,205.888 metric tons (MT), government data showed.
Porkless 22.8 days
DA documents obtained by the BusinessMirror indicated that sans imports, the country’s pork shortage could reach 109,124.696 MT, equivalent to 22.83 days of national consumption.
This is why industry stakeholders viewed the DA’s decision to suspend pork purchases even from ASF high-risk countries as an “overly strict” preventive measure against the hog disease.
“The department has assured [processors] that they would be provided with their SPS permits since the ban could limit their pork supply and also threaten their supply of hams this Christmas,” an industry source familiar with the matter told the BusinessMirror.
Meat Importers and Traders Association (Mita) President Jesus C. Cham and other government sources confirmed to the BusinessMirror that the BAI has resumed the issuance of SPS permits to meat processors and their suppliers.
The BAI allowed this on the premise that the ASF virus will be killed through thorough cooking at high heat, similar to what is being done to canned goods and hot dogs, according to sources.
‘Discriminatory’
However, Cham said the relaxation of stringent import rules is “discriminatory” as importers and traders—the majority of Mita members—that cater to other market segments will still be disallowed from bringing in pork from ASF high-risk countries.
“The Philippines does not understand or appreciate pork production in developed countries. Each animal is inspected and passed as fit for consumption,” he said.
“All the pork products [bound for exports] have been inspected and certified disease-free. So there is no reason to ban as disease is nonexistent. It exists only in the unreasoning mind,” Cham added.
The Mita chief said his members have not been given SPS permits since May 29 and that their applications were not processed by the BAI due to the verbal order of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol.
Despite the resumption of the issuance of SPS permits, Cham said this is not a guarantee that prices will be stable as processors account for only a “small” percentage of total pork imports.
“The impact of this will be felt by the poor as the DA wants to ban palengke items even though all meat products have undergone inspection and have been certified disease-free …Palengke items will be hit hard so poor people are in the crosshairs,” he said.
Also, Cham said trade relations between the European Union and the Philippines could be harmed by Manila’s policies as pork shipments from European countries will still be lower.