Philippines Poultry Situation

On November 6, the Philippine Department of Agriculture authorized the importation of an additional 2,000 MT of chicken leg quarters (CLQ) and/ or whole chicken to augment the anticipated shortfall in supply this holiday season. Similar to the 3,000 MT announced last month, it is expected that this additional chicken importation will be over and above the Minimum Access Volumes and be exempt from special agricultural safeguards.

It will only be subject to the regular tariff rate of 40 percent. However, the shipment must arrive in the country not later than December 31, 2006 to be exempt from SSG duty. The importation will be limited to members and representatives of the United Broiler Raisers Association and the Northern Mindanao Poultry Industry Association.

In June 2004 a perceived tightness in supply and rising retail prices led to a special importation to allow up to 10,000 MT of chicken over and above the MAV of 22,968 MT for 2004. Importers were allowed to bring in 5,000 MT from June to August and were scheduled to bring in an additional 5,000 MT from September until the end of the year. In October 2004 the SSG was re-imposed because the supply of chicken and chicken products have stabilized and the trigger price of imported chicken under the HS code 0207.1942 was breached.

Despite an increase in total poultry imports recorded in 2005, Minimum Access Volume (MAV) usage for fresh, chilled and frozen poultry meat declined from 92% in 2004 to 72% in 2005. Increasing imports of CLQ and poultry MDM that were further processed and re-exported to other Asian markets may have contributed to the increase in out-of-quota imports. As of July 2006 MAV was expected to be fully utilized due to the minimal growth in chicken production projected for this year. Despite the uniform in and out-of quota duty of 40% for most poultry products, the Philippines maintains a Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) for poultry. The 2006 TRQ is 23,490 MT, unchanged from last year.

Poultry accounted for 14.32 percent of the total agricultural production in the latest Performance of Philippine Agriculture survey covering January- September 2006. Although chicken egg production rose 3.64 percent over the first three quarters of 2006, all other poultry components posted output reductions. Total chicken production in 2005 was 1,215,670 MT live weight. Broiler inventory for January 1 2006 was projected at 35,955,780 birds. The three major producing regions are Central Luzon (11,936,866), Southern Tagalog (10,218,218) and Calabarzon (10,134,922).

The low supply of broilers from commercial farms this year was due to the adverse effects of typhoon Caloy in May and the threat of Avian Influenza. The Philippines location in the northwestern Pacific makes it vulnerable to typhoons, which often hit the Philippines before they continue to China, Japan and Taiwan. In late September typhoon Milenyo wreaked havoc in Southern Luzon, followed by super-typhoons Paeng in October, Queenie in November, and Reming in December. Reming was the third super-typhoon in 2006 and the fourth major typhoon since September. This was the first time three super-typhoons occurred in one year in Philippine history.
Source: Philippines Bureau of Agricultural Statistics; U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics; USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service; news wires

Bulgaria’s Import Regulations

Bulgaria will join the EU on January 1, 2007. Due to harmonization of its legislation with the EU, Bulgaria has changed a number of regulations regarding meat, poultry and seafood imports from third countries. Effective January 1, 2007, export certification can no longer be issued for poultry and poultry products. Only EU-eligible poultry from EU approved establishments is eligible for export to Bulgaria at that time. Currently there are no U.S. poultry plants approved to export to the European Union.

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