THE Singaporean government has given the Philippines the go signal to export pork after it approved the accreditation of the Matutum Meat Packing Plant Corp. based in Mindanao.

National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) officer in charge Jane Bacayo said the accreditation of Matutum Meat Packing Plant was granted on April 14.

“In effect, this approval gives the Philippines the green light to ship out pork to Singapore,” said Bacayo in an interview.

He said the accreditation was granted after the company has been able to satisfy all the requirements of the Singaporean authorities.

Earlier, the NMIS noted that among the additional requirements of Singapore include the setting up of wheel baths for trucks and the chlorination of water used to wash pork.

The NMIS, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), was allowed to certify that the plant has complied with the additional requirements.

The NMIS official, however, said shipping out pork products to Singapore will most probably start in June as the agency is awaiting the delivery of an equipment that will screen pork products for drug residues.

“The equipment will increase the confidence of Singaporean authorities in the pork products that the Philippines ships out,” said Bacayo.

He said Singapore did not specify a minimum volume that it will accept from the Philippines. Bacayo, however, said that the initial volume and the subsequent amount of pork products that will be shipped out to Singapore will depend on the supply of hogs that Mindanao hog raisers could guarantee.

Singaporean authorities chose to source pork products from Mindanao as the region has already been declared by the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) as free from the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

The OIE had also declared Visayas as FMD-free. The Philippine government is currently asking the OIE to certify Luzon as FMD-free.

The DA had been hoping that with the shipment of pork to Singapore, other countries will have confidence in importing local meat products. Singapore’s food-safety standard, DA officials noted, is considered as one of the most stringent in the world.

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THE Singaporean government has given the Philippines the go signal to export pork after it approved the accreditation of the Matutum Meat Packing Plant Corp. based in Mindanao.

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