MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has asked the Department of Agriculture (DA) to lift the ban on the importation of poultry meat from Brazil following the call by the country’s meat processors.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the ban on mechanically deboned meat from Brazil could cause a shortage in the supply of canned goods in the country.
The Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. had called for the lifting of the importation ban, which the DA imposed after it was reported that the coronavirus was detected in chicken wings imported from Brazil to China.
Lopez warned that the manufacturers’ supply of major raw materials from Brazil could be depleted in one month. Brazil has reported more than 3.8 million coronavirus infections and more than 120,000 deaths.
—Leila B. Salaverria