August 9, 2006

Philippines may export pork, poultry to Singapore soon

The Philippines is in the process of finalising discussions to export pork and poultry products to Singapore from this year, a senior agriculture official said Tuesday (Aug 8).

"If we can prove that we have a system for testing (drug) residue levels in our meat products, then we may start exporting pork and poultry products to Singapore within the year," Davinio Catbagan, director of the Bureau of Animal Industry, told reporters.

Singapore is considering the Philippines as a source of meat products as the country is one of only a few in the region that have yet to report an outbreak of the avian influenza virus among poultry stocks.

Livestock in the Philippines have also been free from foot-and-mouth disease since late last year, he said.

According to Catbagan, the Singapore Agriculture Veterinary Authority has requested that the Philippines implement more extensive random sampling to determine whether drug residues in its meat products are within allowable limits. Drug residues in meat products come from veterinary health products mixed with animal feeds.

He said Singapore has been scouting for possible alternative sources of poultry and pork as Malaysia, its traditional source for such products, is currently working to contain disease outbreaks.

Malaysia's pork and poultry industries have experienced outbreaks of Nipah and avian influenza, respectively. Nipah, a virus affecting livestock, is characterised by flu-like symptoms and may progress to inflammation of the brain, convulsions and coma.

In addition to Singapore, other possible export markets for Philippine meat products include China and Japan.

"We're very competitive...because of cheaper handling and transport costs compared with other exporters, such as the US," he added.