Seafood processing plant earns HACCP accreditation
THE Dagupan Seafood Processing Plant co-owned by the Dagupan City government and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has finally obtained its Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) accreditation.
Dr. Westly Rosario, interim plant manager, said the HACCP accreditation is valuable because it serves as proof that the plant meets world standards in cleanliness and sanitation.
Rosario said even without the HACCP accreditation, products processed by the plant and carried by various exporters already penetrated the United States market but the accreditation will now provide easier access not just to the US but also to the European markets.
The accreditation is also an indication that processed fish products like marinated bangus, for example, have passed the rigid standard being imposed by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) in the U.S.
Rosario said apart from products bound for the US, seafood are also now being processed for export to Japan and possibly Brunei.
The BFAR, which operates and manages the plant, charges P5 per kilo of fish for processing brought in by exporters, lower than the P10 to P15 per kilo charged by private processors.
The collected fees go to the hired deboners, all residents of Sitio Korea in Bonuan Binloc where previous settlers at the plant site were relocated.
The operational costs of the plant, including its maintenance, are being bankrolled by BFAR.
Rosario thanked Mayor Belen Fernandez of Dagupan City for giving her confidence to the BFAR in running the plant.
“With Mayor Belen at the helm in the city, we have no problem. She understands that BFAR can and must manage the plant,” Rosario said.
Former Mayor Benjamin S. Lim attempted earlier to cancel the contract appointing BFAR as the management arm but failed.
The plant is now considering hiring more processors and deboners for the night shift as only 60 of the 100 people they trained passed the training requirements.
Built by a grant from the Korean government, the plant can process fish at the rate of five metric tons a day.
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