The Polish government is urging the Department of Agriculture (DA) to fast-track the lifting of the temporary import ban on its poultry products, as well as the accreditation of more meat establishments to increase its meat items to the Philippines.
Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Grzegorz Puda wrote to Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar concerning the Polish poultry processing plants’ export rights to the Philippines.
In his letter to Dar that was coursed through the Department of Foreign Affairs, Puda recognized the results of the bilateral talks between Poland and the Philippines that have resolved trade issues, particularly on meat products, between the two countries.
“The Polish and Philippine food safety authorities have been working intensively to grant export rights to Polish plants producing poultry meat [including mechanically separated meat] and poultry meat products destined for the Philippine market,” Puda said in his letter, dated September 30, a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror.
Puda asked Dar for his support on the “arrangements” to apply the principle of regionalization on Poland in order for the European country to resume exporting poultry products from areas free from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
Poland has been banned from exporting poultry products to the Philippines since December 21 of last year after the European country confirmed outbreaks of H5N8 HPAI.
The Philippines usually slaps a temporary blanket ban on countries that have confirmed bird flu outbreaks in order to protect domestic poultry population.
This also usually leads to European countries appealing or asking the Philippines to rescind the blanket ban and instead implement regionalized ones, or barring entry of poultry products from the specific regions or provinces that have confirmed bird flu outbreaks.
Puda also told Dar that the 26 poultry processing plants and six cold storages that are vying to export poultry products to the Philippines are “prepared to be audited by the Philippine experts.”
Puda even committed that the Polish government will make all the necessary arrangements to make the physical audit of their meat establishments possible “under full security conditions in the face of the Covid-19 risk.”
Puda also told Dar that they are also ready for a remote audit of their meat establishments should the Covid-19 situation in Poland “proves to be unfavorable.”
“As the experience of the Polish veterinary service has shown so far, a remote examination enables a reliable assessment of a plant’s compliance with the requirements of the importing country to the same extent as an on-site audit,” he said.
Puda assured Dar that the Polish poultry farms that were affected by bird flu have undergone “all legally required procedures” to eradicate the disease.
Puda also noted that Poland has been allowed to regain its HPAI-free country status last September 25 following the amendment of World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) rules on regaining HPAI-free status from 90 to 28 days after completing eradication procedures.
In its latest report to the OIE dated September 28, Poland said it has resolved all its recent bird flu outbreaks last September 25.
The recurring bird flu outbreaks in Poland, which started last November 24, 2020 and lasted for about 10 months, resulted in the culling of 4.6 million birds to eradicate and control the disease.
“We also took steps to provide as much information as possible concerning the measures implemented by the Polish authorities to contain the spread of the virus,” he said.
“At present Poland is perceived as a partner with considerable experience in combating HPAI and a stable epizootic situation with regard to this disease,” he added.
Puda pointed out that the “Polish veterinary services are willing to conduct further extensive dialogue” with its Philippine counterparts for future actions, particularly the resumption of exports of Polish poultry meat products to the country.
“Our cooperation will be beneficial in particular to Polish and Philippine entrepreneurs but most importantly to consumers. The Covid-19 pandemic affected our countries impacting various sectors of the economy,” he said.
“We have realized how vital the agricultural sector and stable food supply chains are for ensuring food security. I am convinced that the Polish offer of poultry meat products has the potential to successfully meet the needs identified in this area by the Republic of the Philippines,” he added.
In June, the BusinessMirror broke the story that Poland was seeking “urgent accreditation” of its poultry exporters to the Philippines, emphasizing that it is capable of meeting the country’s meat supply requirement particularly of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of chicken. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/06/16/poland-seeks-das-urgent-ok-to-export-poultry-to-phl/)