Good news shook the protein market this Tuesday , with the announcement made today by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of the recognition, by the Philippines, of system equivalence and establishment of pre-listing for animal proteins from Brazil. Exporters in the sector celebrated the news that should positively influence the flow of chicken and pork exports this year, according to the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA).

The system accreditation and pre-listing establishment agreement authorizes all companies qualified by the Federal Inspection System to apply for the accreditation process to export their products to the Philippine market. The technical missions of the Asian country's authorities will now be focused on validating the system, not the plants.

Previously, qualification was carried out individually, with documentary analysis by the Asian country's authorities. In total, 23 chicken meat exporting plants and 4 pork exporting units were qualified to export.

“The pre-listing is an important recognition of the Brazilian system and the establishment of a new level in relations with the Philippine market," Ricardo Santin, president of ABPA. "Thanks to the efforts made by the Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs to democratise access to this market, we have good expectations regarding the growth of the partnership between the two nations."

Currently, the Philippines is the sixth main destination for chicken meat exports from Brazil, with 37.4 thousand tons imported in the first two months of this year. Of pork, there were 25.7 thousand tons in the same period, positioning the market as the second largest importer. Combined, sales of the two proteins generated revenues of more than US$80 million in the first two months of this year alone.

“Percentage-wise, the Philippines is the fastest growing market in the pork sector and one of the fastest growing in terms of chicken meat imports from Brazil," said ABPA markets director Luís Rua. "When we relate the number of plants enabled so far and the volume shipped, we have a perspective of how positive the expectation is about the future of this market, both for chicken meat and for other products such as turkey and duck meat."

In 2023, the Philippines was the sixth main destination for Brazilian chicken meat exports, with 219.5 thousand tons imported – equivalent to 4.4% of Brazilian exports. In pork, there were 126 thousand tons, positioning the market as the third largest importer, responsible for 10.6% of total exports. Since the opening of the market in the 2000s, the Philippines has imported 1.435 million tons of chicken and pork from Brazil, the equivalent of 57 thousand containers.