Philippines allows more meat imports from India

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has allowed the entry of more meat exports from India following compliance with quarantine and meat inspection systems.

In a department order, Agriculture Secretary William Dar approved the application of six foreign meat establishments (FMEs) of India for the export of Indian buffalo meat (carabeef).

The local processing industry is importing Indian buffalo meat as a raw material for low-priced corned beef as this is relatively cheaper than locally-available meat products.

Carabeef is among the agricultural products that the Philippines has a high dependency on importation. Import dependency for carabeef in the country is nearly 40 percent.

Dar said the FMEs were inspected and audited by the DA Inspection Mission and were found to comply with the Philippine food safety, quarantine and meat inspection systems procedures.

The FMEs are Al Kabeer Exports Pvt. Ltd., Frigerio Conserva Allana Private Ltd., Frigorifico Allana Private Ltd., Fair Exports Pvt. Ltd., Vizag Foods Pvt. Ltd., and Al Quresh Exports.

The FMEs have also complied with the requirements provided by the World Organization for Animal Health specifically for foot and mouth disease.

“After thorough evaluation, the application of the six FMEs of India for accreditation to export frozen Indian buffalo meat into the Philippines have been found to be satisfactory and acceptable,” Dar said.

The accreditation of the FMEs are valid until Oct. 5, 2023.