DA maintains stance on meat import ban

-The agency is ‘ready to defend its position’ over the import ban imposed on poultry products from Brazil

Between protecting the country’s poultry sector from another disease outbreak and following a pact with the international trade body, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has a tough balancing act to do.

In a text message, Department of Agriculture ( DA) secretary William Dar yesterday said the agency is “ready to defend its position” over the import ban imposed on poultry products from Brazil.

This came after the Brazilian government warned to file a case against the Philippines before the World Trade Organization (WTO) over what it called “unjustified” restriction on poultry imports from the country.

While they have yet to receive the official communication from Brazil, Dar clarified that the DA is currently studying whether to lift the import ban or not.

In a letter dated 19 October to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Embassy of the Federative Republic of Brazil questioned the memorandum orders issued by the DA prohibiting poultry imports from Brazil.

“Since such an unjustified and undue barrier has not been lifted so far, Brazil is determined to resort to the appropriate multilateral fora, including the filing of ‘Specific Trade Concerns’ to the detriment of the Philippines at the WTO, anchored by the guidelines recommended by that organization,” the Brazilian Embassy said in the letter.

Brazil noted that the import ban of Brazilian chicken meat “goes against the precepts contained under Articles 2 and 5 of the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.”

Dispute settlement

The Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. has recently asked the DA to settle “trade dispute” with countries providing raw materials to avoid shortage of affordable canned meat products.

The association noted that the Philippines imports more than 800,000 metric tons of meat every year, of which around 50 percent to 60 percent is used by meat processors to produce their products.

Brazil is also the second-largest supplier of mechanically-deboned meat (MDM) in the Philippines, which accounts for around 20 percent to 25 percent of the imported raw materials needed by meat processors.

Industry data showed that the Philippines imported 219,062 metric tons of MDM in 2019, about a quarter of which came from Brazil.

Last August, the Philippines temporarily suspended chicken meat imports from Brazil following reports of coronavirus disease contamination detected in a sample of frozen chicken wings.