May 8, 2012
 

Philippine livestock raisers threaten "meat" holiday if contraband imports continue

Hog and poultry raisers in the Philippines warned that they will stage a "pork and chicken holiday" for at least five days if the government does not make good on its promise to crack down on meat smugglers which threaten the livelihood of back yard hog raisers and small-time poultry growers.

The National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI) said the planned "pork and chicken holiday" was not meant to penalize consumers but is one way of getting their message across to the government. 

NFHFI Spokesman and Abono Party-list Chairman Rosendo So said they will carry out their plan if the government fails to take action on their plight as they are already bleeding from uncontrolled imports.

The increase in the production costs of small hog raisers and poultry growers coupled with the unabated smuggling of meat is crippling the industry, said So.

Industry data showed the hogs sector alone loses around PHP3.2 billion (US$75.79 million) monthly from unfair competition from imported pork. The sector has lost around PHP12.8 billion (US$303.17 million) in foregone revenues from January to April 2012.

Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines Inc. (ProPork) President Edwin Chen said hog raisers around 70 percent of whom are back yard raisers could not compete with smuggled pork that comes in at a landed price of US$0.80 per kilogram. The landed price, he said, is way below the reference price of US$2.90 per kilo in other countries.

Industry data showed that pork imports have been rising steadily from 109.36 million kilos in 2009 to 116.21 million kilos last year.

The volume of imported chicken that entered the country is also on the rise. Last year chicken imports reached 127.22 million kilos compared to only 45.77 million kilos in 2008.

The hog raisers and poultry growers noted that the aside from the losses incurred by their sector due to technical smuggling, the government also loses PHP3.7 billion (US$87.63 million) in potential revenues.

Meanwhile, NFHFI and ProPork said they welcome the decision of Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala to suspend the implementation of Administrative Orders (AO) No. 5 and 6. AO 5 governs the handling of freshly slaughtered meat while AO 6 concerns frozen meat.

So said the sector will be better off if the government will decide to scrap the two AOs altogether.

Hog raisers also "welcomed" the decision of Alcala to relieve Bureau of Animal Industry Director Efren C. Nuestro and National Meat Inspection Service Executive Director Jane Bacayo.