Hog farmers seek PASG help to curb pork smuggling

With the prices of pork expected to go up due to the high demand during the holiday season, hog farmers have sought the help of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) to help curb smuggling of pork products into the country.

In a letter addressed to PASG head Antonio Villar Jr., National Hog Farmers Inc. (NHFI) president Albert Lim Jr. requested the agency to monitor the refrigerated container vans entering the Bureau of Customs ports because “some of them may not only contain misdeclared or undervalued agricultural produce, it may not even have the necessary Veterinary Quarantine Clearances (VQC).”  

“These illegally imported meat and poultry products that enter the country without the VQC could be carriers of diseases like FMD (foot and mouth disease) for pork and avian flu for chicken,” Lim said in his letter.

Traditionally in December, the prices of agricultural products – and pork in particular – skyrocket because of the huge demand by Filipino consumers.

Pork is usually the meat of choice for holiday meals, in spite of the lower cost of chicken in the market.

The NHFI, the umbrella organization of 48 hog farmers associations nationwide, anticipates the smuggling of pork, chicken and other agricultural products into the country as December approaches.

Villar said President Arroyo has instructed his office to protect the interest of the local agriculture industry, which is affected by the rampant smuggling of products such as rice, sugar, onions, garlic and poultry.

The NHFI has offered to help the PASG in this undertaking, which was welcomed by Villar.

“Rest assured that PASG will continue to serve as a catalyst in promoting the country’s national economy, particularly the growth of the local agriculture industry,” Villar said.

The PASG reported that around P5 million worth of illegally imported onions from China shipped in four refrigerated container vans and declared as used hand tools was seized a few weeks back.

It added that a big part of the P120 million shipment of smuggled items seized by the PASG in June consisted of rice and sugar.