Buenos Aires, Argentina – The country’s cattle and dairy program received the proverbial shot in the arm when the Organizacion Mundial de Sanidad Animal or OIE laid down the guidelines to allow the Philippines to import breeding materials for meat and dairy cattle from Brazil and Argentina, two countries which are free of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) but are still administering vaccination for their animals.
Dr. Luis Osvaldo Barcos, director of the OIE for the Americas, and Dr. Ronel Avila, OIE representative for Southeast Asia, responded positively to the inquiries made by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) on whether the Philippines’ status as an FMD-free country without vaccination would be affected by the entry of cattle from Brazil and Argentina.
Dr. Barcos, who met with me and Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez at the sidelines of the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference here in Buenos Aires, said that OIE has a set of protocols which would allow the Philippines to bring in cattle from Brazil and Argentina without compromising its FMD-Free Without Vaccination Status.
He said this would involve the “compartmentalization” of the cattle for six months in an area to be cleared by the OIE before the animals are shipped to the Philippines.
Since all animals in both countries receive mandatory FMD vaccination, the six-month confinement in the “Compartment” will be enough time to determine whether the animals are healthy or not, Dr. Barcos explained.
This was also the view shared by Dr. Avila, a Filipino veterinarian based in Bangkok, Thailand who oversees OIE operations in Southeast Asia.
Even with the guidelines set by OIE, I have directed BAI officials that additional safeguards will still be implemented to ensure that the imported cattle remain confined in at least two islands in the country.
Under the program, it will be the private sector which will bring in the imported breeding materials and the Department of Agriculture will just acquire the offsprings, semen and embryo from the private groups.
The private sector investors will be provided with an area and support by the DA so they could establish their breeding program.
For the Girolando Dairy Breed, the Ubay Stock Farm in Bohol is being eyed as the breeding area while for the Brangus Meat Breed from Argentina, it will be the island of Busuanga in Palawan.
This scheme was agreed upon by key officials of the Department to ensure that there would be no suspicion of overpricing or corruption in the procurement of the animals.
In February next year, OIE officials, including Dr. Barcos, will be invited to a livestock stakeholders consultation in the Philippines to address issues and concerns regarding the program.
As soon as all issues are addressed, the Agriculture Department will assist the private sector investors to acquire the breeding materials.
The target of the program is to increase the milk and dairy production in the country from 1.8% of the national requirement to 10% by 2022, or a national milk production of 190,000 metric tons.
For the meat cattle program, the objective is to increase the country’s cattle population by 100%, from 2.5-million heads now to 5-million heads by the end of the term of President Rody Duterte.
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