What could have been a historic moment for the Philippine pork industry turned out to be a disaster as the ebola reston virus (ERV) killed all chances possible for local producers' first foray into the international market.

Unfortunately, all hopes seemed dashed as Singapore - supposedly the first export market for Philippine pork - has finally decided on March this year that it will not anymore allow pork coming from the Philippines for failing to meet its requirements. According to Emilio Escobillo Jr., chair of the South Cotabato Swine Producers Association (Socospa), Singapore gave the local government until end of January 2010 to submit biosecurity measures for Mindanao as well as global position system of hog farms in the region. But they failed.

Although no traces of ERV were discovered in Mindanao, Escobillo says the delayed arrival of ERV test kits has doomed all chances. Mindanao was the only region approved by Singapore to export pork since it has been certified free of foot-and-mouth disease.

However, the government is still exerting all efforts to resurrect the possibilities of selling Philippine meat to other countries. Such is the inauguration of the Philippine Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) while the Food Agriculture Organization has inaugurated the Ebola Diagnostic Laboratory at the Philippine Animal Health Centre inside the BAI compound.  The PHP1.55 million (US$33,954) laboratory has the capacity to conduct antigen and antibody detection of ERV and will also provide vital support in the rapid diagnosis, active surveillance and monitoring of ERV in the field. Francisco Buencamino, executive director of the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Incorporated says EDL is vital for meat exports, especially now that the Asean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) is already in place.

Atty. Jane Bacayo of the National Meat Inspection Service said they will immediately conduct testing on the EDL to possible meat exports which will hopefully pave way for to reopen negotiations for pork shipments.

The company which confronted the greatest setback in the face of ERV outbreak in Luzon was the Matutum Meat Packing Corporation in Polomolok from South Cotabato. The meat processor was set to make its inaugural export of pork and pork products to Singapore on the day the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health confirmed the presence of the virus. Only Matutum was granted accreditation by Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore to export pork products following the declaration of the World Animal Health Organization for the region being FMD-free. The banning has prompted Mindanao hog raisers to propose a separate testing for their animals. The national government is currently mulling on Mindanao's proposition and a decision will be made in due time.

While the region is still aiming for a separate biosecurity identity, one of its provinces is aiming to become Mindanao's canned and meat processors' hub. Local officials from Lanao del Norte believe that their food processors are ready to export their products after undergoing intensive seminars conducted by several government agencies. With an initial PHP25 million (US$548,010) funding for its mass fisheries, provincial authorities believe that the province is all set up for exports once their processing techniques are perfected.  With these developments, pundits believe that the Philippine meat industry is just a step ready for global markets.

More meat investments seen

Based on the high quality of products manufactured by domestic companies, PAMPI believes that the meat processing industry will continue to grow amid economic conditions. A clear example is San Miguel Food Industries (SMFI) which is eyeing a 20% increase in chicken exports this year. Despite being ranked third in terms of raw chicken exports to its leading market Japan after Brazil and the US, SMFI president Rita Imelda Palabyab says "Philippine chicken has a reputation of being tastier, more tender, because we use a smaller bird than Brazil and the US." SMFI's yakitori (skewered chicken) is a hit in Japan especially since no other company exports yakitori in the Asian country. Aside from yakitori, SMFI also exports chicken fingers and although the commodity is high-priced, Palabyab said Japanese market favours more of the brown meat rather than the white chicken meat, hence, consumers are willing to buy it. 

The inauguration of a new plant of CDO Foodsphere in Batangas last year is evidence that the industry's stability is secure amid economic conditions that hit most of the local industries. The plant, which is expected to produce 150,000 kilos of processed meat daily is proof that demand in the country will continue to increase. This is supported by a research which says that meat consumption is projected to grow by nearly 7.4% during 2009-2013 due to expected population growth at 2.3% per annum – an increase from 80 million to 152 million in the next twenty years. The rapidly expanding food sector, particularly of fast food chains which are sprouting even in the remotest area, is also seen to spur meat volumes in twenty years.

Moreover, the acquisition of modern machinery and use of improved production techniques by meat processors have enabled them to produce a wide array of meats at reasonable prices. According to research firm Business Monitor, "the lower price end of products such as corned beef and hotdogs made these commodities affordable, meaning that the demand for livestock has remained relatively stable regardless of the macroeconomic climate."  The firm also said the "government has been supportive in allying itself to a subsector it feels has great potential to serve the local economy through robust employment creation." The Department of Agriculture's measures to help the industry move forward have "increased the efficiency of processing plants to enhance the capacity to process safe, quality meat,” it added.

With these developments, the Philippine meat industry, unlike other sectors, is seemingly ready to face the challenges ahead.

AFTA and other issues

The implementation of the Asean Free Trade Agreement is unarguably the most talked about issue in the agribusiness circles today. In fact some companies are already feeling its pinch. Poultry integrator Bounty Agro Ventures will be forced to change its business model, opening more rotiserrie outlets instead of being a full commercial poultry integrator. Its food retail business Chooks to Go is the company's bulk of revenue stream wherein its outlets are targeted to increase to 1,500 nationwide from the current 600. The poultry integrator giant admits that in a worst case AFTA scenario, they will either stop or downsize production as he expects fast food giants to buy cheaper Thai chicken.

Even SMFI admits that the country is really unprepared for AFTA. However, Palabyab says Filipino will always prefer fresh chicken from the frozen ones and this makes her not unduly worried about AFTA's possible adverse complications.

Bacayo says there is nothing to worry - at least none right now. "As far as the meat industry is concerned, our domestic producers have a problem with AFTA because of the meat products from Asean countries cannot yet enter the Philippine meat market because of the biosecurity problems. Most of the Aseab countries still have problems with diseases right now."

Gregorio San Diego of the United Broilers Raisers Association however believes that Asean countries will have an easier time dealing with diseases compared to the Philippines due to their adaption of new technologies. He said that leading poultry producers Thailand and Malaysia will surely resolve the problems of bird flu in due time and once this is done, their cheaper products will surely flood local markets which will adversely affect domestic producers.

But Bacayo believes otherwise. He said some Asean countries are raring to invest in our country due to "being bird-flu free" and that is one advantage that the meat processing industry is not able to exploit.  But once the laboratory testing facilities are in place, he thinks that importing countries will finally be convinced that Philippine meat, aside from being bird-flu free, is completely disease-free.

But before the country achieve its dreams of being a major meat exporter, Bacayo says it has to deal with the age-old problems of un-hygienic slaughterhouses. The filthy conditions of most slaughterhouses in the country have been the source of "hot meat" or inferior quality meats which were sold in wet markets. NMIS and other local authorities have been cracking down these meat houses and so far was successful in their campaign. However, Bacayo says they only have 459 accredited slaughterhouses that have complied with NMIS' good manufacturing practices (GMP) and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) regulations.

But with a new government mandate wherein NMIS was given the jurisdiction to control slaughterhouses and processing plants nationwide, Bacayo believes the number of accredited slaughterhouses and meat processing plants will increase. "We have been working on this for three years and with this new administrative order, there would only be one criteria that slaughterhouses will follow. Before the Bureau of Food and Drug Administration and NMIS have been issuing different mandates, but now, it will be only NMIS that will be issuing guidelines." Bacayo knows that this measure will at least alleviate the prevalence of animal diseases since only one agency will be the sole source of biosecurity meat establishments. This way, Bacayo hopes that the government and private sector will achieve their goal to make Philippine meats go global.

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