In a statement on Monday, food advocacy group Tugon Kabuhayan said the industry, represented by 270 fishpond operators, non-government organizations, feed manufacturers, commercial fishing companies, fisherfolk, and regulators, wrote to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. welcoming the resumption of PAP imports, which they said will help improve food production.
Tugon Kabuhayan said aquaculture feed mills obtain their PAP from European suppliers that only use Category 3 materials, which are parts of animals from accredited slaughterhouses and were determined to be safe for human consumption. The Department of Agriculture in January issued a temporary ban on imported pork products from Italy due to an ASF outbreak. Italy accounts for around 70% of the Philippines’ annual imports of 150,000 metric tons of PAP.