DA assures ban on pork imports from swine flu-hit countries

The Department of Agriculture assured on Wednesday that the Philippines was no longer importing pork from eight countries affected by the African swine flu, amid the growing fear of some hog industry stakeholders.

Frozen, processed, and cooked pork from China, Belgium, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine were no longer allowed to enter the country's market, according to Maki Pulido's report on GMA's "24 Oras."

Some stakeholders in the hog industry expressed fear that the swine flu outbreak could possibly overwhelm the hog industry as preventive measures of the government are supposedly lacking.

Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol allayed the concerns by asserting that appropriate mitigating protocols were in place since August 2018.

The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) chairperson Rosendo So, however, said that stricter monitoring measures should be implemented as data from United Nations Comtrade Report showed that China still exports frozen pork to the Philippines.

The Bureau of Customs does not have available records of such alleged transactions.

Data from the Bureau of Animal Industry showed that the Philippines imported 300,000 metric tons of pork in 2017, of which 78 percent came from Germany, Spain, Canada, USA, and France.

Moreover, SINAG said that 95 percent of the country’s pork supply was locally sourced. —Dona Magsino/ LDF, GMA News