Villar: 'Border facility' vs diseases from agri imports needed
Published Jul 22, 2023 07:47 am
Senator Cynthia Villar (Senate PRIB)
Diseases detrimental to the country's agricultural sector can be avoided with the establishment of a border facility to inspect and examine imported meat, fisheries and other agricultural products entering the Philippines. Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate Agriculture and Food Committee, had this to say after she and Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban led the groundbreaking ceremony of Commodity Examination Facility for Agriculture (CEFA) in Angat, Bulacan. "This is the first, and we hope that we will be at the groundbreaking ceremonies of the other two more inspection facilities to be put up in Cebu and Davao," Villar said. She said groundbreaking and the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the establishment our very first border control facility is ‘’a milestone for our country". She said the construction of CEFA, a state-of-the-art facility, is in compliance with the Food Safety Act of 2013, or Republic Act (RA) 10611. "The lack of adherence to the Food Safety Act of 2013 has led to the inadequate management of the African Swine Fever (ASF) challenge, and created a risk of other diseases in livestock entering the Philippines," she pointed out. "This compromises the quality and safety of food products, endangers consumer health, and undermines the reputation of the agricultural industry," she added. With the CEFA that would enforce stricter rules and ensure a thorough examination of agricultural cargo, the risk of diseases and other potential threats would be minimized, she pointed out. This would contribute to safer food products for consumers and protect public health. She added. Through comprehensive examination and inspection protocols, she said CEFA would be a crucial tool in detecting and preventing the spread of diseases in livestock, reducing the likelihood of outbreaks. This proactive approach would protect the agricultural sector and local communities from potential epidemics, ensuring the stability of food production, she emphasized. Villar related that all developed countries have these facilities as part of their strengthened food safety and quarantine, inspection regulations. The laboratory shall enable the immediate testing of samples from commodities suspected to carry animal, fish or plant pests or diseases and other hazardous contents. A crematorium will also be in place to ensure safe disposal of confirmed agricultural commodities with quarantine violations, if these commodities cannot be returned to port of origin. Futhermore, Villar said a border facility would also help in preventing agricultural smuggling because the shipment shall undergo 100 percent inspection of farm commodities using not only human power but also modern technology. The continued smuggling of agricultural products undercuts domestic producers and compromises our food safety and our revenue collections which otherwise should fund social services for the benefit of our people, she stressed.