THE government no longer sees the need to import chicken for the holiday season.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said there will be sufficient supply of chicken for the remainder of the year, especially with the poultry industry growing at 4.44 percent in the first half of 2008.

“I don’t see that happening now,” Yap answered when asked if the country would resort to importation at the sidelines of the midyear economic briefing on Wednesday at the Shangri-la Hotel.

“The most telling indication is all our cold storages are full right now according to the National Meat Inspection Section. So there are no plans right now,” he added.

 Earlier, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the government is keeping the option to import chicken open as a safeguard against price spikes during the Christmas season when consumption for this commodity is up.

Trade Secretary Peter Favila said the DTI is now focusing its market monitoring on the products that are in demand during the holidays, including chicken.

Because of the high demand, Favila said there is a tendency for their prices to be pulled up also, so the government needs to make sure that any price adjustment will not be unreasonable.

The United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra) had said there is no need to import chicken outside the minimum access volume (MAV) of 23 million kilos for the year because there will be sufficient supply for the holidays to meet the projected strong demand.

“If there really is a need to import chicken, there are still around 2 million kilograms of chicken that existing MAV holders have not yet brought into the country, so there is no need to allocate more volume outside of MAV,” Ubra president Gregorio San Diego Jr. said.

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DA sees no more need to import chicken for this holiday season

THE government no longer sees the need to import chicken for the holiday season.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said there will be sufficient supply of chicken for the remainder of the year, especially with the poultry industry growing at 4.44 percent in the first half of 2008.

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