The Philippine government has lifted the ban on Brazilian poultry meat more than four months since making such a decision.
In a memorandum, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said that based on the relevant information provided by Brazil, it has provided evidence that the safety protocols enforced in its foreign meat establishments (FMEs) are equivalent to the guidelines established by the Philippines relative to the mitigating measures against COVID-19 in meat establishments.
“There is satisfactory evidence to show that food safety measures in compliance to Good Manufacturing Practices are primarily considered in the daily operations of FME,” Dar further said.
To recall, it was in August when the Philippines has imposed DA Memorandum Order no. 39 series of 2020, temporarily suspending the importation of poultry meat originating from Brazil
This was due to numerous reports on the detection of SARS COV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, in a surface sampling conducted in chicken meat imported from Brazil to China;
As a result, DA requested Brazil several documentary requirements in order to assess the COVID-19 precautionary measures implemented by their government and its FMEs.
This order nearly resulted in a trade war between the Philippines and Brazil, which is currently the world's biggest exporter of meat and poultry products.
To be specific, the Brazilian government has called out the Philippine government for alleged trade violations for imposing an import ban on poultry meat coming from the Latin American country and challenged it to “promptly present scientific, trustworthy evidence” for such restriction.
“The Philippine government's current imposition of a temporary ban over imports of Brazilian poultry meat did not follow the necessary and mandatory principles and steps foreseen on Article 5 of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), and, therefore, is in clear violation of Article 5 of the WTO SPS agreement,” said Brazil’s Ministry of External Relations (MER) and Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA) in an earlier statement.
Under this WTO rule, in the assessment of risks, country members shall take into account available scientific evidence; relevant processes and production methods; relevant inspection, sampling and testing methods; the prevalence of specific diseases or pests; the existence of pest- or disease-free areas; relevant ecological and environmental conditions; and quarantine or other treatment.
It also said that members should, when determining the appropriate level of SPS protection, take into account the objective of minimizing negative trade effects.
But then DA, upon issuing the aforementioned ban, also cited the same WTO rule, which specified that “in cases where relevant scientific evidence is insufficient, a member may provisionally adopt sanitary or phytosanitary measures on the basis of available pertinent information”.
Succumbing precious coming from local meat processors, who import more than 90 percent of their raw meat supply requirement, DA was forced to partially lift the ban, but only to allow the entry of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) coming from Brazil.