By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
With the Christmas season fast approaching, the favorite Noche Buena food like ham and other pork products, and the forecast of the Department of Agriculture about the shortage in the local pork supply call for a stable supply of pork to ensure that would also stabilize the price.
Cognizant of this imminent scarcity of supply and skyrocket the British Chamber of Commerce Philippines vows to support local pork supply from UK pork export.
According to the media advisory of the British Chamber, the Department of Agriculture Asec. Arnel de Mesa said, “The increasing demand during the holiday season and sees importation as means to address the shortage and stabilize the market price,”
Meanwhile, BCCP Executive Director/Trustee, Chris Nelson sees the potential for British pork exporters to assist with the shortage that can further strengthen UK-PH trade relations– with the growth of the UK export market, particularly the Philippines being the second largest pork export market last year.
“The pork market in the Philippines remains substantial, especially among the British meat exporters which greatly contributed to the strong market relations between the UK and the Philippines. The British Chamber works closely with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) through trade missions and we will have our year-end event this November 30th to support meat importers and the local market,” Nelson added.
In line with this, the British Chamber has continuously shown its support to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act which seeks to impose stringent policies against smugglers and hoarders to protect the local agricultural sector. Moreover, it also expressed its support for the extension of lower tariffs that will protect consumers from the rising prices of goods and scarcity of supply and resources.
Furthermore, the British Chamber highlights its upcoming events that aim to introduce UK investors to the Philippine market through the return of the Great British Festival on January 27-28 next year and its year-end gathering event with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board taking place on November 30th which aims to support and strengthen the relationship of both UK and PH meat importers and exporters in hopes of addressing the supply shortage, inflation, and food security. Indeed, the UK-PH relations maintain a positive outlook and are expected to continue to grow with the UK allotting £4bn for export finance targeting multiple sectors including technology, renewable energy, and infrastructure, among others
