DA maintains ban on chicken imports from Brazil

The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced Tuesday that the temporary ban on chicken imports from Brazil stays as it awaits the report from the South American country’s agriculture ministry on its COVID-19-related preventive measures.

In a statement, the DA said its attached agency Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI) is awaiting reply from Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply (MAPA), particularly on needed documents related to COVID-19 prevention and control procedures among Brazilian factory workers in chicken processing facilities.

To recall, the DA-BAI imposed a temporary ban on Brazilian poultry products after China reported that it found traces of the COVID-19 in chicken products from the South American country.

The DA-BAI cited the rising number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Brazil that included workers at meat processing facilities.

Citing a recent letter to Brazil MAPA chief veterinary officer Dr. Geraldo Marcos de Moraes by DA-BAI Director Ronnie Domingo, the Agriculture department said the Philippines is committed to resolving the issue, noting that the ban on Brazilian chicken products was issued as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety and health of Filipino consumers.

“The Philippines greatly values its long-standing harmonious relations with Brazil. We look forward to your prompt response,” Domingo said in his letter to Brazil's Moraes.

Brazil's MAPA is requested to submit documentary requirements of the following:

• List of foreign meat establishments (FMEs) exporting to the Philippines, which reported COVID-19 cases, since March 2020
• Copies of MAPA-issued national guidelines on the control and prevention of COVID-19 cases in meat establishments (including protocol for resumption of operations)
• MAPA procedures or protocols in monitoring COVID-19 cases in meat facilities
• Certified copies of food safety manuals (particularly on their protocol for COVID-19) of BRF (JBS), Seara and Aurora FMEs, that are reported banned by  China
• Current rate of COVID testing on meat establishment workers; and
• Revised guidelines for the production, packaging and storage of poultry mechanically deboned meat (MDM).

In a joint statement, industry groups said the sector supports the action of the DA to temporarily ban the importation of chicken from Brazil.

“In light of the latest development about imported chicken in Brazil being infected with coronavirus and the consequential ban imposed by the Department of Agriculture (DA), it is imperative that we prioritize the health needs of the population where infections continue to increase and the fear of getting infected haunt them every day,” the groups said.

The industry groups included in the joint statement are Philippine Association of Feed Millers Inc., United Broilers Raiser Association, Philippine Chamber of Agriculture,  Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines, Philippine Eggboard Association, Chicken Essentials Philippines, among others.

“Though we appreciate this move by the Agriculture department as an effective preventive measure to ensure the safety of the Filipino people and the other nationals who reside in our country. We as an industry urge the government to have a more aggressive stand and move for the temporary banning of all imported chicken until the world is able to cross this pandemic,” the groups said.

The groups also noted that local livestock and chicken industry can support the supply needed by the meat processors in order for them to supply the demands of the population.

“All food stakeholders should unite and support fellow local companies by buying their local produce and thus feeding our countrymen an all Filipino product from end to end,” it said.

To date, Brazil has the world’s second-worst COVID-19 outbreak, reporting more than 3.2 million cases and more than 105,000 deaths, since the start of the pandemic.

Brazil currently accounts for nearly 20% of the country’s poultry meat imports. Others are sourced from the US and Europe.—AOL, GMA News