Thursday, April 19, 2007 Pampi to export meat products
DESPITE the continued strengthening of the peso against the dollar, local meat processing industry players are still entertaining the idea of penetrating the global meat market, an official of the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) said.
“Our new target is the export market,” said Pampi president Felix Tiukinhoy Jr.
Dr. Alvin Leal, chief of the Department of Agriculture 7’s National Meat Inspection Services meat import and export division, said while the Visayas and Mindanao have not gone “full-blast” in the export of meat and meat produce, some meat processing plants have started submitting samples to Saudi Arabia and Guam.
However, Tiukinhoy said that before going global, local meat industry players must acknowledge the need to heavily invest in packaging and technology so they could be globally competitive.
“Meat manufacturing firms need to create awareness on developing and upgrading their equipment,” he told reporters during the opening of the Food Processing and Packaging Technology (FPPT) Expo Visayas 2007 held yesterday at the Cebu International Convention Center.
Apart from investing on equipment and facilities, accreditation from the Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Point and the International Standard Organization will assure stakeholders of access to the international market, said Tiukinhoy.
He said government interventions, in terms of securing accreditation to countries receiving the exports, will also be necessary.
“The government should work on bilateral trade agreements,” Tiukinhoy said, adding this will drum up the confidence of the meat industry players.
He believes locally processed meat has a big market among overseas Filipino workers.
He said potential export markets also include the United States, Middle East, Europe, Japan and China, among others.
While he acknowledged that Middle Eastern countries are strict in the entry of meat products, Tiukinhoy is confident the country will seize a good market once local products are “Halal-accredited,” which means the ingredients are safe and clean to be used for Muslim food.
FMD-free
Tiukinhoy said he foresees a bright future for the local meat and meat produced because Visayas and Mindanao continue to be foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease-free.
Earlier, the World Health Organization-International des Epizooties has declared the Visayas and Mindanao as FMD-free areas. The country’s pork quality also gained the confidence of Singapore.
This means that by June or July this year, the Philippines will begin exporting pork for the first time.
Capitalizing on this opportunity, Tiukinhoy is calling on Pampi members and other meat processors to drum up efforts in improving their food processing and packaging technologies. (MMM)
