Hog raisers call for all-out war vs smugglers

MANILA, Philippines - Hog raisers are calling on the government to immediately declare an all-out war against smuggling, claiming that some 87 million kilograms (kg) of pork illegally entered the country  last year.

“We call on President Aquino to declare an all-out war against smugglers not only to protect the local industry, also to safeguard the public from possible health problems arising from these contrabands,”Swine Development Council director Rosendo So said in a statement yesterday.

He said the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC) must immediately purge the list of importers, as hog raisers found that only 14 percent or 15.03 million of the 102.14 million kg of offals which entered the country last year were legitimate imports.

“The rest of the 86 percent or 87 million kilos of purportedly offals that flooded the wet markets in 2011 magically turned into prime cuts of pork and were passed off as fresh meat,” he said.

He said that based on records obtained from the and the BoC, only 29 meat processors and two meat integrators out of 142 accredited meat importers were given permits to import offals.

Offals refer to internal organs of butchered animals which are used as extenders in processed meat products.

Offals enter the country at a lower tariff of five percent compared to choice cuts of meat which are slapped with a 40 percent tariff.

So said the imported prime cuts were misdeclared as offals to avoid the payment of the correct duties.

The misdeclaration of imports, he said, has deprived the government of P3.7 billion worth of revenues and is also killing the hog industry.

He noted that such unfair practice has resulted in the death of 20 percent of the backyard industry.

“We are hoping that the 20 percent of the backyard industry will be revived. We warn that the ongoing unfair practice of technical and outright smuggling continue to harm the entire hog and chicken industries,” he said.

He said the Agriculture department and BoC must likewise conduct a 100 percent inspection of offal shipments within the latter’s premises and not at the warehouses of importers in order to check the smuggling of meat.

Hog raisers launched a pork holiday late last month to press the government to act on unabated smuggling of meat.

Hog raisers warned earlier this month that they may implement a longer pork holiday if the government will not take action to stop smuggling.