Phils: Bulacan pig industry to recover from culling

Bulacan Governor Joselito Mendoza has offered optimism that the dying pig industry in the Philippine province will recover when the culling of the Ebola Reston-infected pigs is completed.

The Ebola Reston scare sparked trouble in the local pig industry, bringing down the sales of pork by a massive 50%.

The governor, however, said that he is expecting the hog industry in the province to recover as soon as the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) finishes the culling of the Ebola Reston-infected pigs in Pandi town this week.

Meanwhile, the team conducting depopulation of hogs in Bulacan is back on track and is likely to meet the Friday deadline as almost 5,000 or 73% of the 6,500 pigs from an infected farm in Pandi town have been culled.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap told reporters that culling team members have recovered ground in the process after encountering several delays in the first few days.

The pigs were ordered slaughtered after foreign health experts found that some of the animals were found positive for the Ebola Reston virus, a non-lethal virus that infected not only pigs in a Pandi farm but also by a number of farm workers in Central Luzon.

Phils: Over 2000 hogs culled in Bulacan

By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 01:18:00 03/04/2009

Filed Under: Animals, Food, Diseases
MANILA, Philippines -- A total of 2,663 hogs have been culled since Sunday in a farm in Bulacan province after they were found to have been infected with the Ebola-Reston virus, an official of the Department of Agriculture said.

''Today,we disposed 1,426 pigs. Total now in 3 days: 2,663 pigs.We are almost halfway,'' said Davinio Catbagan, director, Bureau of Animal Industry in a text message to INQUIRER.Net late Tuesday..

Catbagan said that they might finish the depopulation at the Pandi farm on Friday.

U.S. access to Philippine pork market maintained

(MEATPOULTRY.com, March 03, 2009)
by Bryan Salvage

WASHINGTON – In what is being called a victory for U.S. pork producers, the Philippine government indicated last week it will maintain current rules for the administration of its tariff rate quota for pork, preserving U.S. access to a fast-growing market for U.S. pork exports, according to the National Pork Producers Council.

In recent months, the Philippine government had threatened to severely restrict pork imports by denying to legitimate Philippine importers the licenses they need to import pork within the country’s 54,210 metric ton pork T.R.Q. Amounts of imported pork below the T.R.Q. are subject to a lower, or in-quota, tariff rate. Once imports reach the T.R.Q. threshold, a higher tariff rate kicks in, N.P.P.C. explained.

Responding to that threat, the National Pork Producers Council filed a petition in December 2008 with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, requesting removal of the Philippines from the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences. N.P.P.C. noted in filing that petition that the Philippine action would have violated World Trade Organization rules and a 1999 Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and the Philippines.

G.S.P. is a program designed to provide developing countries, such as the Philippines, with preferential duty access to the U.S. market. In 2007, the Philippines exported $1.1 billion worth of products to the United States under the G.S.P. program.

"We are delighted the Philippine government has lived up to its international obligations and given Philippine importers full access to the pork T.R.Q.," said Bryan Black, N.P.P.C. president and a pork producer from Canal Winchester, Ohio. "In light of that, we have withdrawn our G.S.P. petition. However, we will remain vigilant to ensure the Philippine government continues to give the U.S. pork industry full access to its pork market."

N.P.P.C. said the Philippine decision to maintain its current T.R.Q. administration rules preserves a growing market for U.S. pork exports. U.S. pork sales to the Philippines in 2008 increased by 360% to 25,300 metric tons valued at $46 million.

Brazilian beef company files U.S. bankruptcy proceeding

By Tom Johnston on 3/3/2009
MeatingPlace.com

Brazilian beef producer Independencia S.A. has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in a New York City court amid a decline in beef exports and a burdensome debt load, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the Sao Paulo-based company commenced a restructuring process under Brazilian insolvency law. In filing the Chapter 15 proceeding, Independencia seeks from U.S. courts recognition of its Brazilian reorganization.

In its filing, according to Reuters, the company said its total debt was about $1.2 billion, about half of which was in Brazil and half of which was in the form of private debt issues in the United States and other countries outside Brazil.

Independencia said sales fell 41 percent between October 2008 and January 2009, and that non-payment in exports had surpassed 20 percent of total sales in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The company said in its filing that it "has witnessed as a result of the current economic crisis a dramatic disruption in the international beef markets with Brazilian exports decreasing by approximately 34 percent in volume terms, since September 30, 2008."

Independencia said its debt rose because some 86 percent of its debt was in U.S. dollar-denominated trade lines and the Brazilian real recently depreciated against the U.S. dollar, according to Reuters.

Court documents showed the company owes nearly $105 million to JPMorgan Chase Bank and roughly $99 million to Citibank.

AI found on two farms in the UK

Release Date: February 27, 2009
Birds on two poultry farms in the UK have tested positive for a strain of avian flu, according to ProMED-mail.

Veterinarians from DEFRA carried out the tests at Bernard Matthews breeder sites at Arran farm near Yaxham, Norfolk, and Laurel farm, in Ubbeston, Suffolk. The birds tested positive for avian influenza but not the highly pathogenic H5 or H7 types.

DEFRA has not advised a cull of the birds but has placed a movement restriction on them.

A second series of tests is taking place to identify the strain of influenza.

Pilgrim’s Pride closes 3 chicken plants

From: Would Poultry

http://www.worldpoultry.net/news/pilgrim’s-pride-closes-3-chicken-plants-3645.html

Pilgrim's Pride has announced that it will idle 3 US chicken processing plants and lay off approx. 3,000 workers. The poultry processor, which is currently reorganizing under bankruptcy protection, says these measures will reduce production by as much as 10%.

The chicken processing facilities in Douglas, Ga., El Dorado, Ark., and Farmerville, La, which are expected to shut by mid May, are estimated to generate savings of US$110 mln a year as the company works to slash costs in an effort to emerge from bankruptcy, Pilgrim's Pride said.

"The idling of these three plants is a painful reflection of the unprecedented challenges facing our company and our industry from an excess supply of chicken and weakening consumer demand resulting from a crippled economy," said Pilgrim's Pride Chief Executive Don Jackson.

Phils: Depopulation of hogs until Wednesday—DA

By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 13:09:00 03/02/2009
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20090302-191873/Depopulation-of-hogs-until-WednesdayDA

Filed Under: Consumer Issues, Agriculture, Diseases, Food, Animals
MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE)The depopulation of hogs in Bulacan province is expected to be completed by Wednesday, an official of the Department of Agriculture said Monday.

A total of 442 piglets in a farm in Pandi were stunned and burned for two and a half hours on Sunday, said Davinio Catbagan, director Bureau of Animal Industry.

The culling was witnessed by the Food and Agriculture Organization, World Health Organization, and animal welfare groups such as the Philippine Animal Welfare Society and Animal Kingdom.

Anna Cabrera, program director of PAWS, said that the culling was done humanely but admitted that the transfer of the carcasses from the pigpens to the truck was mishandled.

“Some of the pigs loaded into trucks were handled by one leg, one ear. We talked with BAI Director Davinio Catbagan to ask the workers to refine the handling of pigs and we appreciate that he acted on it,” said Cabrera.

In a phone interview, Cabrera told INQUIRER.net that the hogs were crying out of hunger when they arrived.

“We asked the farm owner why they were crying. We learned that Tuesday last week pa sila hindi kumakain. Only water was given to the pigs. We appealed that they give food and pinakain naman sila kahapon before they were killed [We asked the farm owner why they were crying. We learned that they have not eaten anything since Tuesday last week. Only water was given to the pigs. We appealed that they give food and they were fed yesterday before they were killed],” said Cabrera.

“We understood the farm owners. They lost an estimated P52 million but according to good husbandry, food and water should still be given until the death of the animals,” said Cabrera.

Aside from feeds for the pigs, Cabrera said they were appealing for the repair of some captive bolts that have malfunctioned during the killing.

“Dahil nagmalfunction ‘yung ibang captive bolts, gumamit ng 22 caliber rifles ‘yung mga pulis. [Because of the captive bolt that malfunctioned, police used 22 caliber rifles to shoot the other pigs],” said Cabrera.