According to PH importing more chicken, less beef and pork | Inquirer Business, according to data from the Bureau of Animal Industry, the Philippines' import of meat from abroad decreased in January as the nation now chooses to buy chicken over hog and beef (BAI). Last month, meat imports were 76.52 million kilograms, down 10.83 percent from 85.81 million kg in January of the previous year.
The amount was also down from the 104.19 million kg of imported meat that landed in December of last year by 26.55 percent. As the primary source of meat imports, chicken surpassed pig with a volume of 30.33 million kg, or 39.64 percent of the total. The majority of these were chicken leg quarters, then chicken that had been mechanically separated and deboned.
It should be noted that this was 22.27 percent less than the 39.02 million kg sourced in the previous month.
Imports of pork were in second place with 30.27 million kg, down 34.47 percent from 46.2 million kg the year before. Around a third of imported pork was composed of offal and hog chops.
12.51 million kg of beef, mainly beef cuts, were imported by the nation. In addition, 3.33 million kg of buffalo were imported.
Little quantities of imported duck, lamb, and turkey purchased during the reference period were noted in the BAI statistics.
Spain came in second with 8.85 million, predominantly pork, while the United States came in third with 13.79 million, mostly chicken. The Marcos administration extended the validity of lower import tariffs through the end of 2023, and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) had stated that it expected the Philippines to continue sourcing more pork.
It is predicted that that this year's imports of pork would climb by 4.3 percent to 600,000 metric tons. The most favored nation tariffs on fresh, chilled, or frozen meat were kept at 15% and 25% as of the end of 2023 according to Executive Order No. 10, which was enacted by President Marcos in December of the previous year.
The industry sees a glimmer of optimism with the special permit application for an African swine fever vaccine by a local company before the Food and Drug Administration. The USDA also predicted that local output will reach 1 million metric tons this year with bigger pigs expected to be produced.
