The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) yesterday said there is no need to import pork as frozen pork supply remains ample in cold storages.
SINAG issued the statement after the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it is considering the facilitation of the importation to fill a projected 10-day deficit until the end of the year and the anticipated shortage due to the African swine fever (ASF).
Data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed as of September 30, 10 regions, 18 provinces, 44 municipalities and 97 barangays have active ASF cases.
The DA did not specify the projected volume of deficit but said fourth quarter historically marks higher demand for pork.
Jayson Cainglet, SINAG executive director, said in a statement “there is no cause for alarm” as local hog raisers expect sporadic cases of ASF.
Cainglet cited data from the National Meat Inspection Services that as of September 18, a total of 87,338.57 metric tons (MT) of frozen pork are stored in accredited cold storages. Bulk or 85,306.30 MT are imported while the remaining 2,032.27 MT are from local producers.
“Local producers are bearing the cost of increased biosecurity at the farm level, continued regular testing of pigs for ASF and related diseases, stricter ordinances on pig movement; yet, there is no real quarantine inspection of imported pork. Worse, there is also no more indemnification for local hog raisers when hit by ASF so there is reluctance to report as raisers will not get any indemnification,” Cainglet said.
Data from BAI showed from January to August this year, 405.92 million kg of pork entered the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Oriental Mindoro Gov. Humerlito Dolor yesterday said he has declared state of emergency in municipalities of Roxas and Mansalay due to confirmed ASF cases in these areas.
In a radio interview, Dolor said he placed the two towns under state of emergency on Monday night to prevent to prevent the spread of ASF in the province and other areas.
Dolor said three ASF cases in Roxas town were confirmed based on samples taken from hogs from Barangay Bagumbayan and Dangay.
He said there are also “hog mortalities from samples originating in Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro” but he did not give figures.
Dolor said he has activated a task force against to implement measures, including the conduct of checkpoints, to prevent the spread of the ASF outside of Roxas and Mansalay.
He added the Department of Agriculture (DA) is sending 350 kits need for ASF testing at “areas of concerns” in these towns.
He said test kits from other regions are also due to arrive in the province, pending emergency procurement of test kits by the DA.
He said there is also a need to conduct ASF testing in nearby Bulalacao and Bongabong “to ensure that ASF will not spread outside of the containment zone.” – Victor Reyes
