ANTIQUE – Town mayors in this province were urged to prioritize the upgrading of their slaughterhouses to Double A or AA classification and earn accreditation from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).
Provincial Board committee on agriculture vice chairperson Karmila Dimamay said hog raisers in the province could not sell pork outside Antique because the province has no AA slaughterhouse.
“Our hog raisers could only sell live weight hog in other parts of the country like Luzon because there is no Double A slaughterhouse in the province,” she said.
Antique Provincial Veterinary (ProVet) office public health division head, Dr. Rafael Marco Ardamil, yesterday said slaughterhouses in the province are not registered with NMIS and only AA-accredited slaughterhouses could sell pork and other meat products nationwide.
NMIS is the national government regulatory agency implementing policies on meat inspection and meat hygiene to ensure safety.
Local government units seeking accreditation have to put up conveyors and other needed equipment and make sure that the slaughtered hog is clean and safe for human consumption, Ardamil added. (PNA)/PN