MANILA -Portugal stands ready to export pork products to the Philippines as soon as it becomes an accredited supplier in two to three months, a group of Portuguese producers said.
“We are expecting to have the authorization in two to three months,” said Antonio Tavares, representative of Filporc, an interprofessional organization of Portugal’s pork industry.
“As soon as we have the accreditation, we can start exporting immediately,” he added.
Filipino authorities, according to Tavares, are expected to visit and inspect their facilities by June this year, among the prerequisites of the Philippine government before a particular country secures the accreditation to become an exporter of meat and meat products.
“We have very good facilities in Portugal, very modern facilities so it’s easy to start exporting,” Tavares told reporters, noting their facilities are designed to keep frozen pork stocks.
Portugal considers the Philippines a “very important” and “interesting” market for its pork products, noting its undeniable love for pork dishes.
Tavares explained that Portugal and European nations do not eat certain parts of pork, unlike Filipino consumers.
“This is important to have everything to sell all the pigs because we can’t eat all [parts of] the pig. From the mouth to the tail, you can eat all the pig,” he said.
“Fat is something that we intend to export. All the fats, the offals, all these products for sure, we are open to export meat but it’s more of this kind of products,” he added.
As stated in the Pre-Border Measures for the Export of Meat and Meat Products to the Philippines issued by the Department of Agriculture, a country or foreign meat establishment is granted the privilege to export meat and meat products after due evaluation, validation, on-site inspection and conduct of import risk analysis.
These are anchored on a set of rules, regulations, recommendations and standards set forth to determine the soundness of the veterinary services, animal health surveillance or monitoring systems and meat inspection systems.
An applicant country, as per the DA directive, must be a member of the World Organization for Animal Health.
At present, Portugal sells its pork products to China, South Korea and Japan in Asia.
Beyond its bid to offer pork, Tavares said Portugal was gearing up to share the European country’s knowledge on curtailing the spread of African swine fever to the Philippines. Knowledge sharing is expected to occur sometime in May.
“We are only waiting for the logistics and everything and, after that, you need to go to Portugal also to see what we are doing to control the disease,” he added.
Filporc, a nationwide association that represents the production, processing and marketing of pork meat, is part of the campaign dubbed “European Pork, the Smart Choice” launched recently.
The three-year promotional campaign aims to promote high-quality pork from Spain and Portugal.
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden export pork products to the archipelago.
Among these European Union nations, Spain is the top supplier with 19.93 million kg as of February, data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed.
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