By MARVYN N. BENANING
Manila, Philippines – Meat processors have been responsible for the increase in imports, Dr. Efren Nuestro, director of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), said.
Nuestro stressed in his January 6, 2012 report to Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala that pork importation for 2011 declined by 14 percent compared to the previous year’s record.
He noted that in 2010, pork byproducts accounted for 66.32 percent of imports while regular cuts comprised only 33.68 percent, indicating that imports of products used for meat processing comprised bulk of the imports.
Nuestro admitted there was an increase of 23.75 percent in chicken imports from January to November 2011 compared to the same period of the previous year.
However, he clarified that a shift in preference for chicken meat was the reason behind this.
“The increase in the chicken importation was brought about by the increase in techanically deboned chicken meat (MDM) importation, which rose by 51.75 percent,” he noted.
This shift, Nuestro explained, came “due to the shift from buffalo meat to chicken MDM by the meat processing industry.”
Had the market not shifted from buffalo meat to chicken MDM, the BAI chief added, “the volume of imported chicken meat in 2011 would still be lower than the volume posted in 2010.”
Nuestro said the shift in meat preference is affirmed by the decline in the imports of buffalo meat, which is traditionally used in meat processing.
“Buffalo meat importation decreased by 10 percent from January to November 2011 compared to the same period in 2010. The bulk of buffalo meat importation is comprised of forequarters, which contributed 92 percent in 2011. The decrease is the result of the increase in the use of MDM,” Nuestro explained.
On the matter of the export of banned meat products from countries prohibited from exporting the same, Nuestro stressed “these exports have been there, several years before our administration.”
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