The Agriculture department yesterday lifted the temporary ban on imports of pork and pork products from Canada following reports from international health organizations that the deadly influenza strain cannot be transmitted by food.
With the declarations of safety issued by the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health, "continuing the temporary suspension on pork imports in the affected countries would place the Philippines at risk of trade sanctions from countries where it had imposed this restriction for violating World Trade Organization agreements," Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) Director Davinio P. Catbagan said in a statement yesterday. BAI is an attached agency of the Agriculture department.
Imports of live hogs, pork and pork products from Canada, Mexico and the United States had been temporary suspended late last month as a precautionary measure after an outbreak of a novel influenza strain called H1N1.
Early last week, the government lifted the ban on importation of pork and pork products from the US and Mexico, but maintained the ban on pork from the western Canadian province of Alberta after a hog farm was quarantined due to sick hogs tested positive for H1N1.
A Canadian carpenter who came from Mexico reportedly infected the hogs.
Alberta produces 15% of the North American country's pork, according to Canadian Pork International, the export promotion agency of the Canadian pork industry.
Lifting the ban on Canadian pork imports would help the local hog industry convince the public that pork is safe to eat, Mr. Catbagan said.
Albert R. T. Lim, Jr., president of the National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc., concurred. "It will show consumers that the influenza strain has nothing to do with pigs," Mr. Lim said in a phone interview.
Initial reports on the influenza outbreak triggered a so-called pork scare, weakening domestic demand and pulling down retail prices by P5-P10 per kilogram (kg) to P160-P180/kg and farm-gate prices by P5/kg to P87/kg, Mr. Catbagan said.
"[Lifting the import ban] will return to normal the trade because the ban disrupted our business," Jesus C. Cham, president of the Meat Importers and Traders Association, Inc., said in a separate phone interview yesterday.
Mr. Cham said the nearly two-week ban negatively affected pork trade on a minimal scale, without giving figures.
Low-priced pork and pork products would likely flood the market due to the lifting of the ban, Mr. Lim said.
"The hog industry of the United States had a major problem [in selling pork] so I see that they will lower prices," he added.
"If other countries maintain their ban, prices of pork and pork products would go down," Mr. Cham said.
China, El Salvador, Honduras and Ukraine also banned the importation of pork from Canada.
Last year, the country imported 29.575 million kilograms of pork and pork products from the US and 31.724 million kilograms from Canada, data from the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture show.BusinessWorld
