Hog raisers assail DA’s plan to import more pork products

MANILA, Philippines —  Hog raisers have assailed the Department Agriculture (DA)’s plan to import more pork products even as millions of kilos of frozen meat are currently in the country’s cold storage facilities.

In a radio interview yesterday, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) president Rosendo So said: “The importation (of frozen pork) continues as at present there are at least 75 million kilos of frozen pork still in cold storage.”

At a press conference on Monday, Agriculture Assistant Secretary for operations Arnel de Mesa said that the country needs to resort to more importation of pork to address the shortage in supply amid the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in many areas, particularly in the Visayas.

But So has countered: “The DA should first determine the local stocks as in Luzon, hog raisers were able to repopulate.”

He clarified that while SINAG is not preventing the DA from resorting to importation, “there should not be an over importation of pork.”

So also noted that while the supply of pork from Visayas and Mindanao declined amid the outbreak of ASF, the local pork production in Luzon has improved.

“The farmgate of pork in Luzon for backyard raisers is now averaging between P155 and P160 per kilo, same compared to the farmgate in Visayas,” he said.

The agriculture sector leader also pointed out that the spread of ASF in the country, particularly in Visayas, could even be a result of the flooding of imported pork.

“Imported meat products enter the country without necessary tests. If a frozen meat is infected, it can still cause infection even if it is stored for 300 days. The virus is still alive,” he said.

He then questioned the DA’s failure to establish border facilities first despite the allocation of P1 billion each for testing facilities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

“We are puzzled why the undersecretaries and assistant secretaries of the DA failed to implement the facilities despite already having a budget,” he said.

He said the DA allegedly keeps on delaying the establishment of these facilities “despite the order already from President Marcos last year.”

For his part, Philippine Pork Producers Federation president Nonon Tambago said the DA should consult local hog producers before allowing more frozen pork importation.

“They should consult the local producers as Visayas and Mindanao have a lot of supply now,” Tambago told The STAR.

In a separate radio interview, National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. president Chester Tan said there is an oversupply of pork in the last month.

“For the past weeks, for almost a month, there has been an oversupply despite the outbreak of ASF in the provinces. Pork from Visayas keeps on arriving for the past month that is why there is an oversupply in Luzon,” Tan said, adding that the DA should limit the importation as it hurts the local industry.

“What we are asking the DA is even if it allows the importation (of pork), it should only be enough to prevent an oversupply. We submit computation on the volume needed for one year but the DA fails to follow. Normally, the importation is doubled,” Tan added.

Based on data of the Bureau of Animal Industry at least 229.3 million kilos of imported pork products arrived from January to May 2023.

The retail price of pork ham ranged between P270 and P330 per kilo and pork liempo, between P300 and P390 per kilo.