Agriculture groups oppose lifting of poultry import ban

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture groups are against the lifting of any importation ban on countries with reported bird flu cases as this may cause another problem for the country similar to the African Swine Fever (ASF).

“We are against any lifting of ban on countries that have bird flu. We do not want another ASF outbreak in the making,” Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) chairman Rosendo So told The Star.

“If you’ve seen what happened with ASF, if this happens to our local produce of chicken – because it’s not only chicken that will be hit, even layer chickens, quail and ducks – this will be a wider problem if bird flu enters the country,” So said in Filipino.

The Meat Importers and Traders Association (MITA) earlier wrote to Agriculture Secretary William Dar, urging the government to ease bans on the importation of poultry products by implementing zonal bans instead of country-wide restrictions, emphasizing that the supply situation of poultry products has become very tight due to the numerous importation bans in countries with reported cases of the H5N8 or bird flu.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) earlier issued a temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen originating from the United Kingdom.

It was an expansion of the previously imposed ban on England due to the ongoing outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza or HPAI.

Dar said the DA is already studying the proposal of the meat importers.

“The DA better study this one carefully. The last thing we need now is another imported disease on top of Covid and ASF,” United Broiler Raiser Association (UBRA) president Elias Jose Inciong told The Star.

“At present, there are countries that don’t have the Avian Flu, so just import from those countries. We’re not asking importation to be stopped,” So said as he emphasized the need to ensure food safety and protect local producers from catching the Avian Flu.

So also stressed the need for the full inspection of poultry product imports.

“We hope DA will implement the 100 percent inspection to protect our local producers,” he said.

Apart from MITA, the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (PAMPI) also proposed the imposition of a zonal instead of countrywide ban.

The STAR earlier reported that the UK ban on poultry products could lead to higher prices of processed meat due to the tighter supply of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of chicken, as well as the rising costs from other countries.

“The temporary ban on the UK will worsen the dire situation we are in now. The UK, together with the Netherlands and Germany – which have also been banned for several months now, comprise about 60 percent of our MDM chicken supply. This is a major source of animal protein for processors,” PAMPI vice president Jerome Ong said.

“Supply has been severely affected and prices from other countries have increased by more than 100 percent. Our inventories are running out and if supply does not stabilize, the prices of processed meat such as canned meat loaf, sausage, hotdogs, siomai, etc. will increase by more than 20 to 25 percent,” Ong said.

Inciong said the country does not have substantial local MDM production. He added that the DA can perhaps recommend other raw materials for processors.