Stakeholders are urging the Philippine authorities to further restrict pork imports, saying that this will prevent African swine fever (ASF) from entering the country.

At a Senate hearing on March 20, Chester Warren Tan, chairman of the National Pig Breeders Federation, said the Philippines could already do without pork imports.

“We, the stakeholders, are not saying for the protocol that we are opposed to imports, since we have a 94% self-sufficiency level. We only need to import what we need, ”said Tan. The chairman of the National Pig Breeders Federation asked why the Ministry of Agriculture (DA) agreed in 2018 to allow the import of as much as 440 million kilograms of meat, which led to the creation of a buffer stock of at least 60 up to 70 days.

Rufina Salas, chairman of the Philippine Council on Agriculture and Fisheries, said the country has a sufficient reserve and has proposed a temporary ban on pork imports. “At the moment, there is enough reserve meat to cover 60 days, so we even request a temporary ban on pork imports. from countries ... not infected with ASF, ”Salas said.