Tuesday, October 17, 2006 RP lifts ban on meat, products from importers
MEAT and meat products entering Central Visayas are now safe for consumption, an official of the National Meat Inspection Services (NMIS) 7 said.
“The office has lifted the temporary ban on imported meat and meat products from some countries due to the outbreak of the foot and mouth (FMD) disease last year,” said Dr. Alvin Leal, NMIS 7 chief of meat import and export.
Leal said the region is now allowing the entry of meat and meat products from Australia, United States, France, Belgium, India, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand and some parts of Brazil.
The Philippines had banned meat and meat products from Argentina, Egypt, Turkey, Myanmar, Mongolia, Hong Kong and some areas in Brazil due to the FMD outbreak last year.
However, Leal said except for the meat coming from some areas in Brazil, the products from the other countries covered by the ban are not yet considered safe.
“There is no advisory from the central office yet regarding the status of meat products coming from the other countries that were banned,” he said.
Meanwhile, Leal said the lifting of the ban caused the increase in the meat importation in the region.
Increase
Data from the NMIS 7 showed that for the first six months of this year, meat importation already reached 4,573 tons, and is expected to increase by the end of the year due to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit this December, said Ma. Liz Calunsag, NMIS officer-in-charge for meat science and technology.
A total of 2.62 million heads have been slaughtered in the region resulting in the production of 31.9 million kilograms of meat.
While meat importation is expected to increase again this year, Leal assured this will not affect the market for local meat and meat products.
“They will not be affected because the Department of Agriculture has an office called the Minimum Access Volume that regulates meat importation.
There is still a strong demand for our local meat and meat products but because the supply is less, that’s why we import,” he said.
Due to the huge volume of hog and poultry raisers in the province, only the entry of cattle is open for importation, while pork and chicken imports are strongly regulated, Leal added. (MMM)
