Excessive meat imports hurting swine industry

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — Hog-raisers in this province are seeking the help of Congress to enact a law regulating the entry of imported meat to the country, lamenting that excessive meat imports have been hurting the swine industry.

Dr. Rodolfo Custodio, president of the Pangasinan Agricultural Ventures Primary Multipurpose Cooperative Inc., said the swine industry is reeling from the effects of a drastic reduction in prices due to excessive meat importation, both legal and illegal.

Custodio said the survival of the swine industry is being threatened because the importation volumes continue to increase very substantially every year.

At present, the swine industry is composed of 80 percent backyard hog-raisers and only 20 percent commercial hog-raisers. The industry has a total value of P83.535 billion, and employs 45,000 people.

About 2.2 million individuals are also directly dependent on the swine industry, Custodio said.

"If we include the allied sectors like corn farmers who are very dependent on the swine industry, copra producers, makers and sellers of veterinary medicines, and feed millers and haulers, an additional two million people are indirectly dependent on the industry," he said.

Custodio said about P32.64 million worth of processed meat was imported in 2001, and that this volume increased by 51 percent to an estimated P49.32 million this year.

Imports of Indian carabao meat from January to April this year registered a 32-percent increase from the same period a year ago.