Lorenzo seeks review of meat import volumes

Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. is seeking a review of the volume of meat imports to ensure local hog producers are protected from the surge of imported meat.

"The DA wants to minimize the impact of imported meat on the local swine sector. Meat processors should not be importing choice cuts of pork for instance that directly compete with the local swine industry," said Lorenzo.

The DA chief was responding to the complaint of local hog producers that meat processors have been importing not just manufacturing-grade meat but also table-grade meat that can be supplied by local hog raisers.

Earlier, livestock and poultry farmers in Southern Luzon asked the DA to recall all import permits for the year to check if meat processors are not bringing in volumes that exceed their existing production capacities.

Various farmer organizations in Southern Luzon said that inspite of the Christmas season, prices of pork meat and chicken have been steadily declining because the local market is flooded with smuggled meat from China and Korea, among others.

Aside from pork meat, even minor cuts like pork liver and pork skin have found their way into supermarket and wet markets.

The Association of Feedmillers in Southern Tagalog (AFST), Batangas Egg Producers Association (BEPA) and the United Batangas Hog Farmers Inc. (UBHFI) are blaming local meat processors of importing not just manufacturing grade meat but also table grade meat which they trade in the domestic market.

"These products are being sold at appalingly cheap prices. Christmas should be the peak season for the hog industry, but for the first time in history, prices were down as early as April. The usual drop in prices has been from P5 to P10, but this year, it was P20 to P22 per kilo. This may be equal to the expected profit margins of 2.25 million backyard farmers," said UBHFI president Pedrito Kalaw.

The group said they are also getting a beating because government allowed big meat processors to import cheap carabao meat to replace the pork component in their products.

In 2001, about 29.5 million kilos of imported meat were brought into the country, 32.7 million as of August this year, up by 11 percent.

On the other hand, carabao meat from India is projected to reach 49.05 million kilos by end-December and this effectively displaced 817,555 heads of local hogs.

Aside from the recall of this year’s import permits, the three farmer groups are asking the DA to intensify measures to curb smuggling of meat products.

These include holding the issuance of import permits to customs bonded warehouse until they have shown proof that previous importations have indeed been re-exported to avoid illegal sale in the local market and for the DA and the Bureau of Customs to beef up its anti-smuggling task force by assigning a group for each agri-sector and allowing representation from each agri-sector and giving monetary rewards or incentives to informers.

Also, the DA should assign personnel to intensify its watch on the sale of imported meat in supermarkets and wet markets and the use of imported meat in food establishments. Smuggled goods should be confiscated while violators should be stripped of their business permits.