Gov’t urged to allow entry of fish feed ingredients

Aquafeed manufacturers have asked the Department of Agriculture (DA) to lift the ban on the importation of pork products including processed animal proteins (PAP) from Italy that are used in manufacturing fish feed, to help bring down the prices of fish in the markets.

The ban has been in place since January this year as Italian authorities reported that wild boars tested positive for the African swine fever, prompting the agency to temporarily restrict the entry of this commodity to curb the spread of this deadly animal disease.

“Maybe it’s time for our government to review the regulation. Our regulation also needs to be world-class. Why is our regulation different from other countries such as the United States and Vietnam from food safety to business management? That’s our appeal to the government,” Norbert Chingcuanco, vice president for corporate planning of Feedmix Specialist Inc. II, said in a virtual briefing.

“The government needs to review the ban on PAP. It would greatly help in lowering the cost of producing feeds and sourcing feeds,” added Christopher Ian Tingzon, executive assistant to the president of Hoc Po Feeds Corp. INQ