THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is expecting to see a “brief supply gap” in imported frozen chicken as the Philippines halts the entry of poultry products from bird flu-hit Brazil, the country’s top supplier of frozen chicken.
The ban on frozen poultry from Brazil will not be an issue as the supply gap for this imported commodity may be limited to one to two weeks only, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a press conference in Malacañang on Monday, May 19.
“As far as supply is concerned, I really don’t see any issue. Baka may brief supply gap lang na baka one or two weeks because they have to change origins,” he said.
“I don’t see any issue because even our local poultry industry, maganda ang production,” he said.
The Philippines has multiple sources of imported poultry, but Brazil has been the top source because of its competitive pricing, Tiu Laurel said.
“Maraming nagsu-supply ng frozen chicken to the Philippines so magda-divert lang ng market,” he said.
He added: “May mga importers or processors na mas mahal ng kaunti, but I think the price difference is a few percentage lang.”
Brazil — the world’s largest chicken exporter — earlier confirmed that the highly pathogenic avian influenza was detected in a commercial farm in Montenegro in Rio Grande do Sul.
Brazilian authorities have created a task force to prevent the virus from spreading, and has destroyed some 1.7 million eggs in Rio Grande do Sul, according to the state’s department of agriculture. (ABS-CBN News)
