By Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
FOOD SECURITY advocacy group Tugon Kabuhayan said the import ban on porcine processed animal protein (PAP) from Italy, imposed during the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak, needs to be lifted to keep fish feed prices in check.
PAP, a key raw material in producing aquaculture feed, is safe because its manufacturing in Italy is regulated under European Union rules.
“PAP is made from food-grade meat including bones, skin and blood and falls under the European Union’s Category 3 meat classification, which means they come from disease-free animals,” Tugon Kabuhayan Convenor Asis G. Perez said.
Italy accounts for 70% of the 150,000 metric tons of PAP imports shipped in by the feed industry, he said.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) banned PAP imports this year after the emergence of a confirmed case of ASF in Italy.
Mr. Perez said the blanket ban imposed by the DA on pork products from Italy should be modified to exempt PAP imports, as they pose no threat to the domestic swine industry.
“To make PAP powder, the mixture of meat and other animal parts is processed at 130°C, almost double the 70°C at which the ASF virus is killed. During the feed manufacturing process, PAP is further ‘cooked’ at temperatures reaching 200°C to make floating fish food,” he said.
Domestic manufacturers produce around 1.6 million metric tons of feed for the aquaculture industry, whose output of 800,000 metric tons of fish services around 40% of annual fish consumption, the group said.
The high protein found in PAP compared to other protein sources allows for higher feed conversion and reduces water pollution from aquaculture.
Mr. Perez said that the import ban could raise the price of fish sold in the market.
“The biggest impact of the ban on imported PAP from Italy is the higher cost of aquaculture feeds. Every P1.00 of additional feed cost roughly translates to over P2.00 per kilo of fish because a fish farmer needs two kilos of feed for a fish to reach one kilo,” he said.
PAP contains up to 90% protein, higher than the levels supplied by other protein sources like vegetable or fish meal. Lower protein means higher amounts of feed is needed to grow fish to harvestable size, which leads to increased fish effluent that pollutes the water, Tugon Kabuhayan said.
The group said that the country has been using porcine PAP since 2008 due to the inadequacy of the domestic fish meal supply or processed fish scraps.
“We understand that the swine industry needs to be protected. But a blanket ban on imported PAP from Italy because of a single ASF-infected wild boar isn’t backed by science. And if there’s no strong scientific basis, why make the aquaculture industry and, consequently, fish consumers suffer?” he added.