Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol expressed dismay over the reaction of some Filipino meat processors who warned that the temporary ban imposed on pork from Germany could result in higher prices of hotdog and bacon.
The ban was imposed after it was discovered that a shipment of pork supposedly coming from Germany was found to contain boxes of pork from Poland, a country which reported cases of the African swine fever.
“I am dismayed that our meat processors show more concern for the prices of hotdog and bacon than the possible devastation by the ASF on the P260-billion hog industry which provides livelihood to thousands of poor Filipino farmers,” said Piñol.
The entry of the dreaded ASF into the country could lead to the collapse of the local livestock industry and cause unquantifiable damage to the economy, he said.
The Agriculture Department said that when German exporter ProFood co-mingled German pork with pork from Poland which is affected by ASF and shipped this to the Philippines, the case brought to open other possible violations.
“We have to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that their system is safe. If and when the investigation will show that the violation was confined to that particular export company, then we will take the proper measure to lift the ban on all German pork shipment,” Piñol said.