The Department of Agriculture on Monday lifted the temporary ban on poultry imports, including mechanically deboned meat from Brazil, after meat processors warned the restrictive policy could lead to food shortage and high prices of meat products in the country.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar issued Memorandum Order No. 42 Series of 2020 to lift the temporary ban on MDM of poultry from Brazil.
The Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. welcomed the DA’s decision. “We recognized that the ban was lifted because the DA and the Brazil Ministry of Agriculture worked together to address issues related to food safety in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic engulfing Brazil,’’ said PAMPI president Felix Tiukinhoy Jr.
He said the meat processing industry could now move forward and enter into term contracts with Brazilian suppliers to ensure the stability and cost efficiency of MDM as raw material in the production of processed meat products.
The group earlier sought modifications to the ban exempting MDM amid the adverse impact it had on the sourcing and inventory of MDM materials, which are usually delivered on just-in-time basis.
Brazil is the second largest supplier of MDM, next to the Netherlands. Other major suppliers of MDM are Belgium, the US and Canada.
PAMPI assured the government and consumers that prices of processed meat would remain generally stable for the rest of the year.
The DA lifted the ban on Brazilian MDM after documents from the Brazilian government showed compliance to foreign manufacturing establishments to COVID precautionary protocol. The documents showed the detailed plan of MDM plants in Brazil on COVID-19 prevention, infection control, occupational safety and health in poultry MDM meat establishments.
Dar said that only COVID-free FMEs would be allowed to export MDM to the Philippines.
The DA asked all exporting MDM manufacturers from Brazil to include an addendum in the veterinary health certificate that states, “the meat was handled and processed in facilities with functional food safety management system and where stringent hygiene and sanitary measures are practiced” to the shipment arriving in the Philippines.
It also required that all poultry products from Brazil carry safe handling label. The agency made it clear in the memo that MDM imports would be for the sole use of local meat processors and should not find their way to the local wet market.
Under Memorandum 42 Series of 2020, shipments that are non-compliant to the provisions of the memo will be confiscated by veterinary quarantine officers and inspectors at all ports of entry.