STARTING Feb. 1, the Philippines will import 54,000 metric tons of pork from the United States and European countries to address the lack of supply of pork here, the Philippine agriculture department said Tuesday.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Noel Reyes noted that over four million supply of hogs were lost due to the African swine flu – 400,000 died of the flu, while the rest resulted from hog raisers opting not to raise hogs amid the flu.
Lopez said they have temporarily allowed the increase in importation to ensure that there is no shortage of food products.
“We are supporting the DA. If local producers can’t meet the demand, we allow importation so that the supply can catch up to the consumers’ demand,” Lopez said. (with ABS-CBN News/PN)
