During the 2nd Canada Pork International (CPI) seminar, pork industry stakeholders expressed confidence that continued patronage of processed meats and the growing population in the Philippines will sustain if not increase demand for traditional exports such as frozen meat and pork offals.

The Manila Times.net reports that over the past five years, Philippine imports of frozen meats from Canada have grown from 23 per cent to 27 per cent; while imports of offals—including pigskin, fat and rind—increased by 35 per cent.

Cesar Urias, director for CPI-Latin America and Government Programs Management, said they plan to host a trade visit to Canada for Philippine government officials and industry stakeholders.

The trade visit would include a “knowledge transfer“ on how the Philippine pork industry can apply to its products the world-class quality, as well as the safety and sanitation standards used by Canadian meat supply chain, Mr Urias said.

Among the possible beneficiaries of the visit are the high-end hotels and restaurant chains in the Philippines, which is considered a niche market for premium Canadian meat cuts.

“The Canada Pork International is keen on the development of products for retail in the Philippines. We’ve seen this happen in other Asian countries,“ Mr Urias said.

Established in 1991, CPI is the export promotion agency of Canada’s pork industry. It is a joint initiative of the Canadian Meat Council, representing the pork packers and trading companies, and of the Canadian Pork Council, which is the national hog producer organization.

Ambassador Christopher Thornley said that continued discussions between the two nations signals the importance of the Philippine market to Canada.

The Philippines is the sixth largest market for Canadian pork exports next to Japan, the United States, China (including Taiwan and Hong Kong), South Korea and Australia.

Philippine pork producers have proposed a higher tariff on imported offals from the current 5 per cent to the maximum allowable level of 40 per cent.