February 12, 2007

Philippines to draft meat trading guidelines

The Philippine Department of Agriculture through its attached agency, the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) will issue the appropriate guidelines and procedures in accrediting meat importers and exporters, brokers, traders and handlers in preparation for meat exports and for local distribution.

Agriculture secretary Arthur Yap told the Philippine Star daily said the new guidelines will complement all procedures and safety nets to improve local pork and meat products as well as facilitating access to the profitable export market.

Yap added that the mandate will also serve as a critical protocol for the country's capability to produce world-class meat products in its international trading partners. 

The agriculture chief earlier announced the possibility of shipping pork to Singapore by July this year.

The Department of Agriculture is also fast-tracking its "Pork in a Box", a private-sector backed programme which aims to produce cheaper but high-quality meat for low-income Filipino consumers while raising the profits of swine raisers.

The initiative encourages hog growers to use modern meat-cutting and cold-chain facilities and existing nautical highway systems to pull down transport and logistic costs for meat production and distribution.

The "Pork-in-a-Box" program, Yap said, also hopes to reduce the incidence of animal disease occurrences because the transport and shipping of live animals would be minimized once the project is in full swing.