October 4, 2010

Philippines renews support for poultry sector

The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) has renewed its support for the poultry industry through infrastructure and facilities to help increase output.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Davinio P. Catbagan said in his remarks at Friday's opening of Poultry Show 2010 that the department will provide trading centres and processing facilities.

Catbagan said the department supports the establishment of a liquid egg processing plant in San Jose, Batangas. The Batangas Egg Producers Cooperative, a group of 25 firms engaged in egg production, manages the PHP60-million project.

He further said that the DA is planning to set up livestock trading centres "in strategic locations under private-public partnerships," referring to a scheme pushed by the administration to control spending by inviting private investments in infrastructure projects.

Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro have been identified as pilot areas for the trading centres to host slaughterhouses, cutting plants, cold storage and refrigerated vans, he said.

Meanwhile, the department is also extending assistance to the industry through export negotiations. He noted that negotiations with Hong Kong will be reopened after it was halted a few years ago, and also assist in export negotiations with South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

Catbagan said the Philippines is currently exporting poultry products to Japan, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The poultry subsector grew by 2.46% in the first half, according to data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics.

Chicken output was up by 2.27% to 660,300 tonnes in the first half from 645,630 tonnes last year, while egg production grew by 5.68% to 193,630 tonnes from 183,230 tonnes last year.

But with regards to the chicken imports under the minimum access volume (MAV), Catbagan said that the department cannot stop subscription to the MAV. A 30% tariff is imposed on chicken imports within MAV. Annual MAV subscription is 23,490 tonnes.