May 21, 2007

 

Philippines targets chicken exports to European Union, Middle East 

 

 

The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) is in the thick of negotiations for chicken exports with the European Union, Middle East, China and other Southeast Asian countries, according to the Philippine Star daily.

 

According to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, the Philippines and China are also preparing the implementing guidelines for exports of heat-processed poultry meat in the Chinese market.

 

The DA is also helping exporters in completing their requirements for the export of Philippine chicken to the European Union, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Middle East.

 

The country currently ships breeder day-old chicks to Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Nepal and exports processed chicken to Hong Kong, Japan, USA, Dubai, Soyuth Korea and Mauritius.

 

Fresh frozen chicken is exported to the United Arab Emirates and Japan.

 

From 1.206 million tonnes in 2006, poultry production is seen to reach 1.238 million tonnes in 2007, posting a growth of 2.66 percent.

 

Major poultry production areas include  Pangasinan, which is targeted to produce 34,355 tonnes; Isabela, 23,024 tonnes; Nueva Vizcaya, 88,904 tonnes; Quezon, 16,347 tonnes; and Iloilo, 17, 469 tonnes.

 

The poultry industry contributes 9.26 percent to the total value of Philippine agriculture, ranking third next to hogs (14.26 percent) and palay (18.3 percent).

 

The poultry industry's gross value was pegged at P81.96 billion or roughly US$1.76 billion last year, registering an increase of 2.85 percent over the 2005 level, but the volume of production slightly dropped by 0.8 percent to 1.205 million tonnes compared to 2005.

 

To enable the industry to achieve its growth target this year, the DA is strengthening its strategic disease control measures, surveillance, quarantine, and information and education drives to protect the country's borders from the threat of the avian influenza or bird flu.

 

The DA has an agreement with the Bureau of Customs for tighter coordination in the campaign against smuggling, and for continuing assistance to export and market expansion initiatives.

 

To widen global market access for meat and other agro-fishery exports, the DA has also established trade and investment desks (TIDs) which was initially to cater to the markets of Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea and key nations of Southeast Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America .

 

According to the Philippine Star, Yap said the TIDs would serve as a one-stop shop for Philippine farm producers and  exporters to assist them in tapping overseas markets by providing information about trade and marketing opportunities-including basic facts about the economic, political and social situations-in the countries where they plan to sell their commodities.

 

The TIDs would facilitate the search for new overseas markets for Philippine farm and fishery products and bring in foreign investments and development  assistance for the agriculture sector.

 

The TIDs would also help maximize the benefits of bilateral and multilateral technical cooperation activities and look for sources of cheap inputs for local agro-fishery processing industries, Yap said.