July 29, 2010

Philippine livestock trade sees boost after FMD-free status

The Philippines awaits a major boost in its livestock trade after it successfully eradicated the dreaded FMD among hogs and cattle nationwide, said the Department of Agriculture (DA) Wednesday (July 28).

"FMD is a very serious disease. It is a trade barrier. Now that the Philippines has successfully eradicated FMD, we are now entitled to freely trade our hog and cattle products to other countries," Reildrin Morales, national coordinator of the Bureau of Animal Industry's (BAI) FMD program, said.

The DA held a "celebration program and banquet" in Quezon City after the country achieved recognition from the World Organization for Animal Health declaring northern and southern Luzon free of the highly-contagious livestock disease.

Morales said that the country's FMD-free status can largely help the livestock sector "realise its export potential." According to him, the BAI will soon survey farms in Mindanao to determine if the country can begin exporting pork. He added that the country is targeting Singapore as one of its primary markets, which is expected to import 5,000 hogs per day.

"With the FMD now eradicated, the government is expected to save up to PHP700 million (US$15.28 million) in veterinary fees this year. In other countries, it takes ages for them to fight this disease. But for us, it only took 15 years. That's really a milestone in the agriculture industry," he said.

An FMD outbreak that affected almost 100,000 animals in 27 provinces across the country was declared in the Philippines in 1995. Six years later, in 2001 the DA declared Mindanao free of FMD, which was eradicated in Visayas a year later.

The BAI warned hog raisers this month of another possible FMD outbreak after infected hogs from Japan and South Korea were discovered. Pork products from those countries were banned from entering the Philippines.