November 29, 2010

 

Philippine hog farmers seek total meat import ban

A cooperative of hog raisers is seeking a total ban on trading of imported meat in public and wet markets, a threat to the livelihood of local producers and meat vendors in Cebu, Philippines.

 

Instead, the Central Visayas Pork Production Cooperative (CVPPC) recommended that imported meat may be sold to food institutions provided they have proper equipment to store meat at the proper freezing temperature.

 

Rolando Tambago of the Central Visayas Pork Production Cooperative (CVPPC) made a presentation on the influx of imported meat in Cebu conducted by the House committee on agriculture and food chaired by Rep. Mark Mendoza of Batangas.

 

During his presentation, Tambago said imported meat products went up by 241% in Cebu this year.

 

Since January, 23,624 tonnes of imported meat arrived in Cebu. The volume was a little over 10% of the total importation of meat in the country.

 

Tambago pointed out that from 2005 to 2006, only 5,000 tonnes of meat were brought to Cebu. The volume increased to 10,000 tonnes from 2007 to 2009.

 

To compete with the imported meat, some local hog raisers sold the slaughtered meat at PHP77 (US$1.74) per kilo, or PHP5 (US$0.11) cheaper than the produce cost of PHP82 (US$1.86). As a result, hog raising in Cebu dropped along with other swine-related products.

 

The CVPPC proposed a regulation in the volume of imported meat in Cebu and a strict monitoring of the entry of imported meat especially at the port level. The group also pushed for laboratory testing of imported meat to determine if these contained bacteria and virus that may trigger illnesses or were contaminated.

 

Local hog raisers are complaining of low sales since even the makers of the famous chicharon in Carcar City are using imported meat.

 

Since the demand of local meat has dropped, some backyard hog raisers in Cebu may have to close shop in mid-2011 if the imported meat continues to flood the local market.

 

Lebumfacil said that local hog raisers especially the backyard piggeries suffered heavy losses since the influx of imported meat.

 

The imported meat is cheaper since it cost only PHP70 (US$1.59) to PHP80 (US$1.81) per kilo compared with the local meat which is sold at PHP90 (US$2.04) per kilo.

 

Juanito Alferez, livelihood association president in Carcar that produces swine fatteners, also raised the concern on safety of imported meat.

 

He pointed out that processed fat of imported meat may not be safe because it may not have been frozen to the desired temperature and consistency.

 

Lebumfacil complained that imported meat was no longer limited in supermarkets and shopping malls but instead has found its way to the satellite public markets even in far-flung towns.

 

Tambago raised concerns that the meat sold in the public or wet market may not have been stored at the proper below zero temperature because the vendors don't have the proper equipment to keep the meat in good condition.