Meat processors demand full disclosure of ASF origin

The arbitrary ban or restrictions on the sale and distribution of processed pork products is forcing some meat processing companies to downsize operations and lay off workers.

An embattled Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. or PAMPI asserts the ban on the purchase of local pork is arbitrary and has unfairly put at risk a P300-billion industry.

To save a P300 billion industry from further damage, the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (PAMPI) on Thursday urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to disclose how the African swine fever (ASF) virus spread from a piggery in Montalban, Rizal.

PAMPI president Felix Tiukinhoy said the request aims to halt the arbitrary ban of local pork and processed pork products from the provinces as association members stopped pork purchases since the finished products can no longer be sold.

“We do not want to expose ourselves to further risks by using locally sourced pork that could be laden with ASF. There could be unscrupulous suppliers who could pass off meat from ASF-infected pigs,” he said.

“Even in the Visayas and Mindanao, it is not safe to buy pork materials because of the presence of so many backyard raisers. Even big hog companies there buy from backyard raisers when they cannot meet the demand. We believe they should voluntarily have their pigs tested for ASF, too, to assure the public.”

The arbitrary ban on the sale and distribution of processed pork products has forced some meat processing companies to downsize operations and lay off workers, he added.

Tiukinhoy said that in banning processed pork products, local government units (LGU) ignored scientific evidence the processed products were cooked at high temperatures and incapable of spreading the ASF virus.

Recently, Laguna became the 65th province to impose a ban on processed pork products amid the spread of the ASF virus which does not pose a threat to humans but could decimate the swine population.

So far, only the member provinces of the Bangsa, Moro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have not imposed a ban. Being predominantly Muslim, its people do not consume pork.