Meat importers will soon have to return any unused permits issued by the country's Department of Agriculture's (DA) National Meat Inspection Service and the Bureau of Animal Industry within a month.

Importers will also need to explain to the DA their reasons for not using these permits within the stipulated time, after which the department would determine if these importers should get permits in future.

Local importers are known to have passed on their unused import permits, thus contributing to under-priced commodities entering the local market.

So far, the country is still heavily reliant on meat imports for its meat processing and manufacturing industry, bringing in some 201 million tonnes of manufacturing-grade beef, chicken and pork annually.

Source: eFeedLink - 3rd August 2005