Bird flu case
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is set to temporarily halt poultry imports from Brazil after the South American nation, the country’s top meat supplier, confirmed its first bird flu outbreak in a commercial farm.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. confirmed to The STAR that the Department of Agriculture (DA) will impose a country-wide ban on Brazil, the world’s top producer and exporter of poultry products.
The bird flu outbreak in Brazil, which caused the death of almost 7,400 breeders in Rio Grande do Sul, triggered import bans from various countries that have included China, Mexico, Chile and Uruguay. This is the first confirmed bird flu outbreak in a commercial poultry farm in Brazil.
The Philippines usually imposes a temporary import ban on countries with confirmed bird flu outbreaks to protect domestic poultry populations from the transboundary animal disease.
The government recently updated its guidelines on implementing bilateral regionalization with the trade partners that have confirmed bird flu cases aimed at limiting import bans on specific areas or regions where outbreaks are located to lessen the impact of such measures on trade and food security.
Tiu Laurel also disclosed that the DA will rush the processing of the regionalization on Brazil to limit the import ban to the specific areas or states that have confirmed bird flu cases.
“There is a request from the (meat)processing industry (to fast-track the regionalization),” he said.
Brazil is a critical poultry meat supplier of the country, particularly for the meat processing industry, as it supplies at least 60 percent of its mechanically deboned meat (MDM) requirement, a vital raw ingredient used to produce food items like hot dogs and meat loaves.
The country-wide import ban on Brazil is expected to cause a dent on the country’s poultry MDM supplies but industry sources note that alternative suppliers may fill in the supply gap that the South American nation would create.
Some of the countries that can supply the Philippines with poultry MDM at a competitive price are Poland, Russia and Germany, sources said.
“The good thing is that we have more accredited suppliers today than before and some of these exporters are not accredited by other countries like China, lessening the possible competition,” a highly knowledgeable industry source told The STAR.
The Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA) said the Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply has been transparent about the bird flu situation in Rio Grande do Sul.
ABPA pointed out that the necessary measures have been undertaken by the government to address the outbreak.
The group noted that it “trusts” the Brazilian government to accelerate negotiations with trade partners to resolve “any effects” that may arise from the bird flu situation.
The Philippines is in the top 10 markets of Brazil’s chicken meat products, according to ABPA.