By Lilybeth Ison/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol on Friday ordered that a thorough investigation be conducted on German exporter ProFood to ensure that its preparation methods conform with local safety standards.
“The entry of the dreaded ASF (African Swine Fever) into the country could lead to the collapse of our livestock industry and cause unquantifiable damage to our economy. When the German exporter, ProFood, co-mingled German pork with pork from Poland which is affected by ASF, and shipped this to the Philippines, the case brought to open other possible violations. We have to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that their system is safe,” said Piñol in a statement.
If and when the investigation will show that the violation was confined to that particular export company, the DA chief said, “then we will take the proper measure to lift the ban on all German pork shipment.”
“I am sure our German trading partners will understand because I know they would impose the same measures if the situation was in reverse,” he added.
On Wednesday, Piñol suspended the accreditation of all German meat exporters to the Philippines following the breach of quarantine protocols.
The ban was imposed after it was discovered that a shipment of pork supposedly coming from Germany was found to contain boxes of pork from Poland, a country which has ASF cases.
Piñol expressed disappointment in some meat processors who have warned that the temporary ban imposed by Philippine Quarantine authorities on pork coming from Germany could result in increased in prices for hotdog and bacon.
“I am dismayed that our meat processors show more concern for the prices of hotdog and bacon than the possible devastation by the ASF of the PHP260-billion hog industry which provides livelihood to thousands of poor Filipino farmers,” he said.
“We cannot close our eyes to this serious violation of Philippine Quarantine protocols simply because we are concerned about a possible spike in prices of hotdogs and bacon,” he added.
The agriculture chief urged local businessmen “to momentarily make adjustments and source their pork from local farmers or their imports from countries which are free of ASF.”
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