On ASEAN integration: Meat processors seek government assistance

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine Association of Meat Processors of the Philippines (Pampi) is reiterating its call to the government to give attention to the industry in order to help them prepare for the ASEAN integration in 2015.

“As far as the industry is concerned, the government is not supporting us. The Department of Agriculture is leaning towards supporting the hog raisers industry. The programs should be fair to all stakeholders,” said Pampi President Felix Tiukinhoy in an interview.

Tiukinhoy, also the president and chief executive officer of Cebu-based Virginia Foods Inc. (VFI), said that the meat processors in the Philippines have not been given a chance to give their inputs or even be invited for a dialogue by the government.

The Philippines consumes an average of P200 billion processed meat a year, about 80 to 90 percent of which is supplied by the local meat processing industry, Tiukinhoy said.

He said meat processors in the Philippines are now preparing themselves to the more intensive competition in the tariff-free ASEAN by 2015.

VFI, for instance, is now allocating sizeable amount for expansion, and establishing updated ISO systems in order to be globally-competitive and also fight the entry of more processed meat products from the ASEAN countries, prices of which are expected to threaten the locally-manufactured products.

He said Pampi is trying to see to it that its members are ready to face the regional competition in the ASEAN, not only to protect its captured local market, but also to maximize the 600 million consumer base in the ASEAN bloc.

“We should be ready for the integration, otherwise we will be contented with the domestic market,” he said.

Early this year, Pampi wrote to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala on its view on the newly-implemented Administrative Order No. 09-2013, which tightened rules on the accreditation of importers, triggering a shortage of pork.

Under the AO 09-2013, new importers cannot bring in meat products, including Indian buffalo meat, for a three-year period. The same directive also raised the minimum paid-up capital for new importers of P5 million, as well as required an importer to provide the government with a list of their customers.

In its letter, Pampi complained that the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) began implementing the administrative order without consulting the group, thus allowing hog raisers to tighten their grip on the domestic market.

Pampi stressed that “the order has in fact stopped the operations of some meat processors and caused a slowdown in operations of other companies that depend on meat raw materials from accredited sources.”

The Philippines is one of the largest importers of fresh beef meat, especially from India.

VFI is one of the biggest importers of buffalo meat for its corned beef and beef loaf canned goods. /JMD (FREEMAN)