August 8, 2022

 

Philippine farmer associations to oppose easing import of fish feed raw materials from ASF-affected countries

 

 

Farmer associations in the Philippines said they will oppose an easing of import restrictions on fish feed raw materials from countries affected by African swine fever (ASF).

 

"(This) will further expose the still vulnerable livestock industry to the spread of ASF," said Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) chairman Rosendo O. So in a statement. "Clearly, this was not approved or allowed by the industry because of the possible damage to the livestock industry."

 

The Philippines' Department of Agriculture (DA) recently authorised imports of processed animal protein (PAP) used in fish feed from countries affected by ASF. It had earlier banned imports of processed porcine or pork meal for animal feed use from these countries in March.

 

So said that SINAG, along with other agri-industry groups, will file an appeal against the memorandum.

 

"(ASF) continues to wreak havoc in some regions, (reducing) the hog population by a little over three million… As a result of the ASF disease outbreaks, thousands of farmers suffered complete loss of income and livelihood, with smallholder farmers suffering the most," it said. "The DA has said that there is evidence that contaminated feed can possibly transmit the ASF virus to pigs consuming the feed. The private sector, veterinarians, veterinary drug companies and even the government have been creating programmes to improve swine biosecurity practices and to encourage the swine farmers to re-populate safely in the absence of a viable vaccine."

 

The association said that while the livestock industry recognises the aquaculture sector's need to reduce the costs of feed to be more competitive, any threat to biosecurity is the concern of the entire agriculture industry.

 

"The aquaculture sector's request to lift the ban of porcine animal protein from countries with ASF cases limited to wild boars will certainly expose the fragile and recovering swine industry to further threats from contaminated raw materials," it added.

 

The easing of import rules is expected to "reverse the decline in fish production, enable expansion and ensure the nutrition of Filipino consumers," the aquaculture industry said.

 

"If the import ban on PAPs had continued, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said 20% of aquaculture production would be imperiled," said Asis G. Perez, co-convenor of food advocacy group Tugon Kabuhayan, in a briefing. "The aquaculture sector surely welcomes this initiative as it has been requesting for this since April of this year.

 

"The general public will stand to benefit from this decision as there will be a continuing supply of affordable protein coming from aquaculture."

 

Feedmix Specialist II, Inc. vice-president Norberto O. Chingcuanco, also co-convenor of Tugon Kabuhayan, said that PAP is a key, irreplaceable ingredient for aquaculture feed and its production process can be expected to kill the ASF virus.

 

"PAPs are processed at high temperatures that kill all forms of bacteria and viruses," he said. "Fish growth slowed down because of the absence of proper ingredients. Nutritionists had a hard time balancing nutritional needs without PAPs.

 

"Fish production is not growing. Tugon Kabuhayan has been vigorously advocating to allow imports of PAPs, 70% of which are from Italy, from where they were disallowed starting January."

 

- BusinessWorld