Local hog raisers belonging to the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) said the country does not need additional meat imports as they can supply the demand of local industries and consumers.
Sinag Chairman Rosendo So made the statement after Denmark had recently announced its bid to ship pork products to the Philippines and Vietnam.
“Wanton importation and smuggling of meat products have hurt the local meat industry,” So said in his e-mail to the BusinessMirror.
In a statement released by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark said it will make a push to sell its pork-based food and other products in new Southeast Asian markets to offset the negative impact of the Russian boycott and low European food prices.
Denmark’s Minister of Trade and Development Mogens Jensen cited, in particular, Vietnam and the Philippines, where there is “a great demand for pork.”
The Danish Foreign Ministry noted that Denmark’s exports to the Philippines jumped by 140 percent from January to September 2014 due to a large order of Vestas wind turbines.
Data from the Philippine Bureau of Animal Industry showed that Danish pork export to the Philippines in 2013 was comparatively low at 3 million kilograms, (kg) compared to Canada’s 52.7 million kg.
Meanwhile, Sinag, again, called on the government to address the smuggling of pork, noting that some unscrupulous importers misdeclare pork products to pay lower tariffs.
“Our long-standing demand, including [that of] the National Federation of Hog Farmers, is to increase the tariff for pork offal to 35 percent,” So said.
Minus the government support to make hog-raising more efficient, local producers said it would be difficult for them to compete in the international arena.
Sinag said hog raisers need production and marketing support it. is also calling for the provision of subsidies to corn farmers.
So cited the case of local poultry growers, who wanted to export to the United Arab Emirates, but were forced to back out because of high costs.
“It’s difficult to compete with world market prices, given the high cost of producing livestock and poultry products here,” he said.