Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - The Philippines' Bureau of Animal Industry Director Efren Nuestro said South Korea has agreed to open its market to Philippine poultry products after declaring them safe.
"Chicken from triple-A slaughterhouses may start entering South Korea. [Seoul¿s] decision to start accepting our chicken products means that we have complied with their requirements," Nuestro said.
South Korea¿s poultry industry has been affected by the dreaded avian flu or bird flu, which is caused by viruses that occur naturally among birds.
The Philippines is one of the few countries in Asia that remains free from avian flu, which has led to multibillion-dollar losses in the global poultry industry.
The opening of South Korea to local chicken products is one of the important points discussed during the Philippines-South Korea bilateral meeting on agriculture held in Manila in November last year.
The Philippine government said it wanted to start the export of local chicken products before the end of the first semester.
The Department of Agriculture noted that the South Korean market was as big as the Japanese market which has relied on the Philippines for its poultry products after Thailand was hit by the avian flu. So far, Japan remains the top importer of Yakitori chicken from the Philippines.
