Meat traders buck food safety body

Suppliers of meat in the world market and their local buyers raise strong objections yesterday to the creation of a food safety body, which they said would add to the trading costs aside from being some form of barrier to free and fair trade.

Under Administrative Order No. 25, the Department of Agriculture (DA) requires the issuance of a safety compliance certificate and a host of custody certificates on imports of meat and meat products for food.

At a meeting called by the Department of Agriculture, representatives of countries that sell meat to the Philippines as well as leaders of local meat groups such as the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (PAMPI) and the United Broilers Raisers Association (UBRA) proposed that a technical working group of the private sector be formed to work closely with the DA technical working group on the proposed Food Safety Compliance Certificate and Chain of Custody Certification Check List as prescribed by AO No. 25.