Researchers from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) have developed a pork traceability system (NPTS) to ensure the safety and quality of pork products in the country.
The NPTS is an information and communications technology-based system that allows real-time tracking of animals and their meat cuts “from pen to plate” and traces them to verify the truthfulness of meat packaging labels, Dr. Jaderick P. Pabico of the UPLB said.
“With the NPTS, the swine industry in the Philippines is posed to lead Afta [Asean free-trade area] in meat-based export product quality, not only because it is the only foot-and-mouth disease [FMD]- and avian flu-free country in the region, but also because the NPTS was designed to be responsive to international standards,” Pabico said in a statement.
Pabico said consumers will be given verifiable information to trace the sources of meat cuts they bought, minimizing the sale of mislabeled or smuggled meat cuts of questionable quality. He also said the country’s livestock industry would have an advantage once the economies of the Asean member-states are integrated this year since the Philippines was accorded an FMD-free status by the Office Internationale des Epizooties last month.
The NPTS was conceived as a computer-based infrastructure to support the country’s preparation for the Afta later this year.
The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture said the NPTS not only represents an advancement on the system of monitoring of livestock but it is also a “plus factor” for the entry of Philippine meat products into the European Union, which has been pushing for the ethical treatment of animals.