Local hog raisers join petition vs. DA order
HOG raisers in Pangasinan are joining their counterparts around the country in a petition asking the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Department of Agriculture from further enforcing its controversial Administrative Order No. 5.
A.O. No. 5, signed by Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala on January 12, 2012, promulgates stricter rules and regulations on hygienic handling of newly-slaughtered meat in markets prompting protests nationwide from the local meat industry.
Engr. Rosendo So, founding chairman of partylist Abono, said during the Media in Action Forum of the Pangasinan Press Club on Friday, that Abono is joining the petition of the “Samahang Walang-Iwanan Cooperative” seeking to stop the enforcement of the AO.
The cooperative, maintaining a piggery farm of up to 1,000 heads of pigs with about 100 sows, zeroes in its objection to item 6.2.6 of the A.O. which states that meat shall be at the sales area for only eight hours from the time of the slaughter of the animal.
The group also objects to the provision that that the meat unsold after eight hours, even if maintaining its fresh-like quality and showing no sign of spoilage, can no longer be sold.
So said this is “unconscionable because some meat vendors are slaughtering early” and could not possibly bring the products to the market and sell all these within eight hours.
He said he suspects that the A.O could be the result of international pressure since it would benefit those wanting to bring in more meat into the Philippines from abroad, taking advantage of the free-trade agreement of which the Philippines is one of the signatories.
At the same time, So again questioned the continued misdeclaration of imported meat from the United States and other countries which, he said, is depriving the government customs duties to the tune of P2.8 billion yearly when solid meat is passed on as offal to avail of lower taxes
This illegal act, he said, has spawned the flooding the market with imported meat competing with the local meat industry.
He estimates that the local meat industry has lost up to P8.5billion in sales and another P20 million on the side of hog raisers.
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