Philippine '08 pork imports up 38 percent

Philippine pork imports grew 38 percent last year, according to a report released by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

 

USDA noted that Philippines imported 109.36 million kilogrammes of pork products from various sources in 2008, 38 percent more than what the country imported a year earlier.

 

 

Canada accounted for 29 percent of the Philippine pork imports, while US accounted for 27 percent.

 

FAS also noted that the US nearly tripled to 29,575 tonnes from 10,351 tonnes.

 

The Philippine Department of Agriculture has allowed 54,210 tonnes into the country under the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme for 2008.

 

Of the volume, importers accounted for 58 percent compared with 19 percent in 2007, and in-quota imports of pork products have a lower tariff of 30 percent.

 

Citing figures from the Philippine Bureau Animal Statistics, FAS said that the country had 13.6 million heads of pigs as of last January, and 71 percent were counted in backyard farms and 29 percent in commercial farms.

 

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI) was disappointed by the report that imported pork products have increased significantly last year.

 

NFHFI president Albert Lim said the imports are increasing annually, but is not good for the local hog industry and that if local users patronise Philippine pork products, hog raisers would be encouraged to expand their production capacities, in turn improving farm gate prices and incomes of hog raisers.