Despite the existing ban on Dutch poultry products, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it has approved the request of meat processors to import mechanically separated meat (MSM) from the Netherlands.
The DA issued Memorandum Order (MO) 16, which permitted meat importer-processors (MIPs) belonging to the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) to import MSM.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the government approved the request of Pampi upon the recommendation of an interagency task force (IATF) that conducted a technical evaluation of MIPs.
MO 16 amended MO 14, Series of 2017, which imposed a temporary ban on the importation of poultry and poultry products from the Netherlands in January.
“[I] do hereby issue this MO granting the request of the meat processors with thermal-processing equipment to import MSM for processing OIE-declared free areas from highly pathogenic avian influenza virus [HPAIV] during the past 21 days,” Piñol said in MO 16 dated March 29, a copy of which was given to reporters on April 6.
The DA chief said Pampi had requested to import meat materials for processing from areas declared by the OIE as free from HPAIV in the last 90 days.
The DA said it formed an IATF, consisting of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), which evaluated select meat-processing plants to determine if they were capable of heat treating MSM imports. Piñol added the IATF team reported the availability of thermal-processing equipment in the facilities of the requesting MIPs.
He noted that the temporary ban on poultry and poultry products from the Netherlands was imposed to protect the local poultry sector and ensure the safety of consumers.
Under MO 16, the MIPs will only be allowed to import MSM from the Netherlands if it is from a zone/compartment free from the HPAIV for at least 21 days.
“Only accredited MIPs that were subjected to the evaluation by the IATF on HPAIV and complied with the requirements shall be allowed to import from HPAIV-free zones in the Netherlands,” Piñol said.
An industry source said the government accredited four MIPs from Pampi.
The MIPs importing MSM from the Netherlands are required to submit a monthly utilization report so they can be issued import permits.
“To reduce risk, all consignment shall be stored in one centralized DA accredited Cold Storage Warehouse [SCW] identified by the MIP, which will be dedicated purely to the storage of MSM from the Netherlands,” MO 16 read.
Piñol said he ordered the NMIS to establish a program for monitoring the processing of imported MSM from the Netherlands and surveillance for HPAIV.
“The NMIS will do monitoring and surveillance and collection of samples for laboratory analysis,” he added.
BAI Assistant Director Simeon S. Amurao Jr. told the BusinessMirror that the ban on Dutch poultry products would remain in place despite the DA’s decision to allow the entry of MSM from the Netherlands.
Amurao made an assurance that heat-treating poultry products would kill HPAIV.
Earlier Pampi Executive President Francisco Buencamino told the BusinessMirror that his group made the request due to the difficulties encountered by meat processors in sourcing MSM.
Meat Importers and Traders Association President Jesus Cham revealed that the price of MSM in the international market has nearly doubled and that it would continue to go up due to the tightness in supply caused by the outbreak of bird flu in some European countries.
The Netherlands is one of the country’s top sources of imported MSM of chicken, a raw material used in making processed meat products, such as hot dogs.
Data from the BAI showed that the Philippines’s purchase of MSM from the Netherlands in 2016 expanded by 39.25 percent to 49,846.36 metric tons, from 35,795.678 MT imported in 2015.