Phl urged to reconsider blanket ban on pork imports

WASHINGTON — The Philippines should think twice about imposing a blanket ban on all pork imports after being hit by African swine fever.

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), which represents 42 affiliated state associations in the US, said it was hard to decipher why the Philippines would consider such move.

“If it is not science-based, it is very hard to understand why a government would move forward with a ban on products that don’t have ASF. Something that is just based on gut feeling is bad,” NPPC director for International Affairs Maria Zieba said in a meeting here.

“We want it to be rules-based and we want others to treat us fairly and we treat others fairly, especially on the pork side. I think we have a very good trajectory of being good partners and we don’t want to jeopardize that in any way,” she said.

The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) is urging Agriculture Secretary William Dar to suspend the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) permits for pork imports.

Dar has yet to address the call of the umbrella group of various subsectors in the agriculture sector.

“Countries have been allowed to protect their respective local agriculture in times of outbreak. Under WTO (World Trade Organization) rules, there is always that assumption of regularity in any policy of the national government,” Sinag chairman Rosendo So said.

“These tainted pork imports are the source of ASF,” he said.

The Philippines has imposed a ban from imports coming from China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, North Korea, Laos, Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Moldova, South Africa, Zambia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, Latvia, Poland, Germany and Romania.

“If you ban all imports, where are you going to get it?” Zieba argued.

Local stakeholders claim they can supply all the requirements of the Philippines for pork but this may not be entirely true as the country continues to import every year.

From January to July this year, the US exported 21,767 metric tons (MT) of pork to the Philippines, down 19 percent from the same period last year.

The value of US pork exports to the Philippines declined by 23 percent to $50 million in the first seven months.

Last year, total US pork exports stood at $64.7 billion.

“The Philippines is really an important market for us. We have been developing it for the last decades. Asia is quite important for us as a market as a whole. China is our biggest market,” Zieba said.

„Unfortunately, our exports to China and Hong Kong are suffering because we are in the middle of a trade dispute,“she said.

For this year, US exports to the Philippines will likely remain at the same level.

“It would be very similar to last year. It could trend up a bit for the holiday season,” Zieba said.