Dad seeks accreditation of poultry dressing plants

Believing that its scope is very limited, councilor Edgardo Labella is pushing for the amendment of City Ordinance 1582 or the Meat for Public Consumption Regulatory Ordinance.

Labella, chairman of the City Council committee on laws, ordinances, public accountability and good government, said the ordinance should also include in its ambit the accreditation of poultry dressing plants.

Section 11 of the ordinance only called for the accreditation of private abattoirs and not poultry dressing plants.

However, Labella said accreditation of poultry dressing plants is also necessary due to reports that operations of some small chicken dressing plants are allegedly done in a clandestine manner beyond the reach of government meat inspectors, thereby posing a huge risk to public health.

So much so that the slaughter of chicken in relatively large volumes for commercial purposes is usually done in so-called dressing plants of privately owned poultry.

"While it cannot be denied that the operation of covert chicken dressing plants may infer income generation to some people, still, the same appears not to bode well with the city government of Cebu's revenue-raising thrust," Labella said.

He contended that the ordinance seemed to have overlooked poultry dressing plants to be included in the scope of the legislation.

Labella's proposal stemmed from Article 99 of the implementing rules and regulations of the Local Government Code, which empowers the city government to regulate the preparation and sale of meat for public consumption within its territorial jurisdiction.

Once amended, Section 11 of City Ordinance 1582 would then read: "Accreditation of private abattoirs and poultry dressing plant," Labella said.

Once implemented, all poultry dressing plants in the city, including chicken dressing plants, will need to seek accreditation from the city mayor through a resolution of the City Council and upon recommendation of the City Veterinary's Office.

In effect, the city government would be mandated to provide all private abattoirs and poultry dressing plants with meat inspectors, deputized or regular, "who shall be properly accommodated by the owner or operator in such a way that his/her meat inspection activities shall not be hampered."

However, should the proposal be declared invalid or unconstitutional, Labella said the other parts shall remain in effect. - Joeberth M. Ocao