Korea is set to conduct an onsite inspection and accreditation of new poultry manufacturing facilities in the Philippines in lieu of the resumption of chicken exports to South Korea. This was announced during a meeting with Agriculture Secretary William Dar and official delegation from the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on September 23, 2019.

The accreditation, which is a follow pursuit to the lifting of the temporary suspension of import poultry and pet birds from the Philippines on July 4, 2019, will also pave way to the resumption of the market access of Philippine duck meat and poultry eggs to Korea.

Dar expressed his gratitude to the Korean government for lifting the suspension of Philippine chicken meat to Korea and wished for the earliest dispatch of the on-site inspection team.

“We are hoping to increase the volume of export of poultry products to South Korea,” Dar said.

To facilitate the exports of Philippine chicken to Korea, the Korean government dispatches its audit team to the Philippines to conduct on-site inspection of three new Philippine poultry manufacturing facilities that confirmed readiness for inspection and interest to apply accreditation for chicken meat exports to Korea this year.

With the assistance from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), Korea is set to inspect the facilities in Davao City, Batangas, and La Union.

Korea’s chicken imports in 2018 reached 140,000 MT. It is projected to increase to 145,000 metric tons in 2019 due to continuous increase in the demand for processed chicken products and the cheaper price for imports compared to domestic chicken. ### (Rita dela Cruz)