FMD spread from carabeef imports feared

ANGELES CITY — Leaders of two of the country’s biggest group of hog raisers have expressed concern over the continuing importation of carabeef from India, which they said could again trigger a massive outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

Albert Lim, chairman of the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHF), and Nicanor Briones, chairman of the Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines (ASAP), said that 30 to 50 per cent of some 50 million carabeef being imported yearly from FMD-hit India are now making its way directly to wet markets and direct consumers.

"Only meat product processors are supposed to be entitled to carabeef importation for such products as corned beef and sausages, but the imported frozen products are now found in wet markets and even directly supplied to canteens," Lim told The Star in an interview.

Lim and Briones stressed that India has remained in the list of a Paris-based international body as among the countries still seriously affected by FMD.

"We cannot export meat from Luzon because of occasional reports of FMD, but the Visayas and Mindanao are already declared free from the virus. If we go on importing carabeef from India, FMD might hit our entire country again," Lim noted. — Ding Cervantes