Follow DA guidelines on ASF — LGU told

A manufacturer must be able to present a veterinary health certificate of the exporting country, a sanitary and phyto sanitary permit, and an import permit from the Department of Agriculture.

Local officials were told to follow Department of Agriculture-issued guidelines on the movement, distribution and sale of processed meat products, instead of just imposing an outright ban on pork meat products.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año issued a memorandum, advising governors, city and municipal mayors, barangay chairpersons and other local officials that processed meat products that contain pork as ingredient “either partially or fully” should be allowed to distributed and sell in all provinces provided that they are pre-heat treated or fully cooked.

He cited the adherence of the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (PAMPI) with the internationally accepted standards that its canned meat products are cooked at 116 degrees Celsius for at least 60 minutes, and that its hotdogs are processed or smoked to a core temperature of at least 72 degrees Celsius for over one hour.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government also gave assurance that PAMPI’s Christmas hams and bacons are cooked at 72 degrees Celsius also for more than an hour, and that their smoked and cooked pork sausages are cooked at 72 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes.

The DILG issued the memorandum for public interest, and the protection of the consumers, retailers, distributors, dry and cold storage operators, hog raisers, meat processors and manufacturers, and the other stakeholders from “any unwarranted disruption in the flow of trade and commerce across the country, and the country’s economy.

On the entry of the pork processed meat products, a local government unit can demand a certification from the Land Transportation Office and/or from the Food and Drug Administration.

Since meat processors have been using imported pork, a manufacturer must be able to present a veterinary health certificate of the exporting country, a sanitary and phyto sanitary permit, and an import permit from the Department of Agriculture.

Under Año’s guidelines, “if the pork is sourced from local producers, a document issued by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) authorizing its movement or use for production of processed meats.”