Agriculture Secretary Manny F. Piñol urged meat importers to observe control and regulation in sourcing out canned meat from countries that not affected by African Swine Fever (ASF). The Secretary also encouraged the group to buy from the local hog raisers.
“We are not stopping you from doing your business, but we need to be cautious,” Piñol said during a meeting on May 28, 2019.
Piñol said that until such time that the high-risk countries are identified, importers should also take precautions from importing processed meat products even from countries not affected by ASF.
“High-risk countries is defined as any country contiguous with an ASF-affected country which may impose potential threat,” Piñol stressed.
With about four to five months buffer stock from domestic and cold storage, the Secretary assured the meat importers that local hog raisers are prepared to supply the country’s demand.
“The Department of Finance (DOF) approved the importation of about 300,000 metric tons (MT) of yellow corn from the US to support our livestock industry,” Piñol added.
Piñol said the Department targets develop 100,000-hectare production area for sorghum this year to supplement animal feeds and ultimately increase production of livestock animal and meat.
According to Agriculture Undersecretary for Operations Ariel T. Cayanan, the appeal of DA and hog raisers aims to resolve future food security problems.
“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that while the temperature or the heat needed to kill viruses is a good parameter, we cannot take this as the sole parameter to be considered. On a regulatory point, it is not yet secured,” Cayanan said.
“While ASF will not affect people, we also need to look at the food security concerns of the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, the FDA has issued Memorandum Order No. 2019-046 for all importers, distributors, retail outlets, dealers to immediately recall all pork meat products imported from countries that might be affected by ASF.
“The moment that these products are displayed in the shelves of supermarkets, the FDA will write the supermarket owners a letter of inquiry and will require them to explain why they have these products,” Cayanan said.
The order also calls for the seizure of all imported pork meat products for distribution, offered for sale, transfer, and/or for donation found during the conduct of continuous monitoring of FDA Regulation Officers.
FDA has assured the department that it has already suspended the issuance of registration of processed pork meat products from the identified ASF-affected countries.
Pursuant to DA Memorandum Order no. 30 and 31, FDA expanded its temporary ban of entry of meat and meat products from Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Moldova, South Africa, Zambia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, Latvia, Poland, Romania, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Mongolia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.### (Kristel Merle, DA-AFID)
