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THE Philippines will ship pork meat to Singapore in
three months, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
Dr. Davinio Catbagan, BAI
director, on Wednesday said a meeting is scheduled on Monday between
bureau officials and representatives from Agri-Food and Veterinary
Authority of Singapore to inspect the hog slaughter and meat
facility in South Cotabato.
Singapore wants to source meat
from Mindanao because Visayas and Mindanao have been certified Foot
and Mouth Disease (FMD) free by both the Office International des
Epizooties (OIE) and the World Organisation for Animal Health,
Catbagan said.
Earlier talks between Philippines
and Singapore officials were put off because of antibiotic residues
in some farms.
Catbagan also said the BAI has an
outstanding application before the OIE to declare Luzon FMD-free.
The Philippines is scheduled to present its case on March, with the
government expecting the certification by May.
The livestock and poultry
industry contributes up to 29 percent of agricultural production.
BAI and Univet Nutrition and
Animal Healthcare Co. (Unahco) recently launched OPLAN I.D. to
educate swine raisers on biosecurity and swine disease management.
Unahco donated an initial P1
million worth of Swine management DVDs and Univet product samples
for the said program. About 70 percent of hog raisers are backyard
operations.
--Ira Karen Apanay
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