The Department of Agriculture (DA) is reviewing regulations governing the transport of livestock, particularly chickens and hogs to ease supply bottlenecks ahead of expected demand spikes during the holiday season.
This developed as the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has ordered the inspection of sugar mills after it received complaints from farmers of very low to zero 50-kilogram bag per ton of cane (LKGTC) results since they started milling last month.
In a statement on Wednesday, the DA said the comprehensive review of regulations, including DA Administrative Order (AO) No. 5, Series of 2019, will address ongoing supply challenges exacerbated by lingering animal health issues.
DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the agency will consult industry groups, particularly the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc.
DA Administrative Order No. 5, issued in 2019, sets guidelines for the local transport of animals, animal products, and by-products to protect public health and combat animal health threats. The regulations impose strict timelines for obtaining transport permits and set special requirements for specific animals and products.
The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) is also reviewing DA Administrative Circular No. 2, Series of 2022, which modified the National Zoning and Movement Plan to control African Swine Fever (ASF). ASF has devastated the hog industry since its outbreak in 2019.
DA collaborated with the Food and Drug Administration to make ASF vaccines commercially available in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, The SRA has issued a memorandum on November 4 ordering the creation of inspection teams which will conduct “random inspections focusing on analyzing samples’ sucrose content, Brix and apparent purity,” according to the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines (UNIFED).
In a statement on Wednesday, UNIFED president Manuel Lamata called on the SRA to
fast track the inspection and to ensure proper calibration of sugar mill equipment so that farmers are not short-changed.
Lamata questioned the integrity of some sugar mills after “very doubtful” results of zero LKGTC.
“We have had truckloads of canes which reportedly have zero LKGTC as extracted by the mills which makes us suspect that something strange is going on,” Lamata said.
Lamata said that while the long drought will have an effect on the LKGTC, “the results so far have been suspect.”
Average figures in the past is 1.7 LKGTC on 50 tons per hectare but since the start of the milling season it has gone down to 1.44 LKGTC.
