Philippines to set up bio-security measures against FMD
The absence of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and bird flu in the Philippines should be used a leverage for strong exports of meat and meat products, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said on 9 March, 2011.
Mr Alcaca said it was necessary, however, to carry out strict bio-security measures to ensure the country stay free from these diseases.
“In particular, our avian-flu-free status allows us to export poultry products to Japan, Hong Kong, and the Middle East, as well as breeder chicks to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Nepal and the Middle East,” Mr Alcala said.
“At the same time, these favourable conditions offer us a better fighting chance in our bid to become a reliable source of quality livestock products, notably for the global halal market.”
He said to prevent the country from being infected with FMD, bio-security measures must be adopted nationwide.
Mr Alcala said there is also a need for the strengthening of quality standards and for the setting up of world-class production and processing infrastructure such as triple-A slaughterhouses and related cold storage and post-harvest facilities.
“There is also a need to pursue a satisfactory measure of equivalence between national standards and those of our prospective foreign markets,” he said.
