Spanish firms earn nod to send meat to the Philippines

Spain has secured a three-year accreditation to export chicken and turkey to the Philippines. The Department of Agriculture (DA) said this would boost the supply of meat in the archipelago.

In Department Order No. 09, the DA said the accreditation for Spain covers ovine, caprine and poultry (chicken and turkey) meat. This will last until March 12, 2028.

Based on a report from the DA’s Inspection Mission (DAIM), the government of Spain has complied with relevant Philippine standards and requirements that the World Organisation for Animal Health provided.

“The 17 FMEs (foreign meat establishments) that were audited by the DAIM team were found to be compliant with the Philippine quarantine and meat inspection system procedures,” the order dated April 10 read. It was made public through the DA website earlier this week.

Before the approval, the DA deployed separate teams last year to determine Spain’s compliance with existing local and global policies on exporting meat.

The team from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) visited the European country from Oct. 5 to Oct. 20, 2024. This was done to evaluate its veterinary services and animal health.

Meanwhile, the delegation from the National Meat Inspection Service checked Spain’s food safety control on Oct. 19 to Nov. 8, 2024.

FMEs obtain accreditations from the Philippine government after a thorough evaluation of their compliance with local and international food safety standards.

Taiwan and Thailand, too

This is to ensure that meat products from exporting countries are safe for human consumption. Also considered is whether inbound cargoes do not pose a threat to the domestic livestock and poultry sectors.

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Further taken into account is avoiding the entry of animal and foodborne diseases.

Before this, Taiwan and Thailand joined the expanding list of meat exporters to the archipelago.

Taiwanese FMEs secured the approval to expand their meat offerings to include pork offal and skin. Meanwhile, new suppliers from Thailand would provide chicken and duck.

The Philippines imported 473.46 million kilograms of meat in the first four months of the year. This was a 19.4-percent increase from the same period in 2024, data from the BAI showed.

Before receiving the accreditation, Spain had been shipping beef and pork to the Philippines. Spanish cargos logged at 53.52 million kg, accounting for 11 percent total meat imports.