THE Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) is worried that a ban on meat imports from three Indian states — Bihar, Maharashtra and Telangana — will affect its production schedule for the first two months of 2025.
The group — composed of 83 member-companies in food manufacturing, packaging, cold chain logistics and infrastructure — on Monday sent a letter urging Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. to review and reverse a Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) order issuing a phytosanitary import clearance ban on beef imports from the three Indian states.
The order was issued following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in those areas in 2023.
In its letter, Pampi said that its member-companies had already contracted suppliers of Indian buffalo meat (IBM) from the three states to fulfill production requirements for early next year. They argued that, in their years of importing buffalo meat from the three states since 1994, the products never caused any FMD issues despite sporadic outbreaks in India.
Pampi said there had not been any reported case of transmission of the FMD virus from Indian buffalo meat since DA-accredited suppliers and meat processors strictly follow the World Health Organization for Animal Health’s guidelines on the importation of fresh meat of bovines from areas with FMD virus infection.
There is an official control program for FMD in India, Pampi said, adding that their suppliers and meat processors are compliant to the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of 2024.
While additional plants are being recommended for accreditation in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a major FMD outbreak in cattle has also been reported in the area in March.
Uttar Pradesh has also been on the DA ban list since 2020, also due to FMD.
Pampi said the BAI order set a “disastrous precedent” that may lead it to lose India as its only source of buffalo raw meat.
The meat processors group suggested that the original arrangements on Indian buffalo meat importation be observed while the BAI order undergoes review.
The Manila Times tried to reach out to the DA and the BAI, but the agencies’ representatives have yet to respond.
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