February 18, 2009
Philippines looks forward to increased Brazilian meat imports
A Philippine technical mission is in Brazil this week to visit pork and poultry processing plants with a view to increasing imports of the two meats.
The technicians will visit plants in the Brazilian states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.
Brazil became an important supplier of animal protein to the Philippines in the past, but that country reduced imports as of 2006 alleging sanitation problems and instead bought from the US.
The Philippine government has been negotiating since the middle of last year for a technical mission to visit Brazil, especially due to high global prices of poultry and pork causing Philippine inflation.
In the case of chicken, Brazil has the potential to export 25,000 tonnes annually to a market that consumes 100,000 tonnes, while in 2007 Brazil exported only 7,000 tonnes to the Philippines.
According to the USDA, Philippines will produce 1.17 million tonnes of pork in 2009, but demand is forecast at 1.25 million tonnes.
In the case of beef, expectations are high as Brazil was responsible for 20 percent of Philippine beef exports prior to the 2005 embargo.
