Philippines’s Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards
Raising Sheep and Goats for Profit: Small-Scale Ruminant Production
Small-scale production refers to raising a small flock of animals, typically fewer than 100, for commercial purposes. As of 2007, USDA reported that 52% of all goat farms had fewer than 10 goats (nearly half of which were meat animals). A 2011 USDA study showed that 7.5% of all agricultural operations had goats and 4.3% had sheep. 2 The average inventory was 28 goats and 78 sheep for small-scale operations. Given that smaller or more diversified operations may be trying to maintain a greater number of enterprises on one farm or operation, it may be more difficult for those producers to stay on top of good management practices, as well as any requirements necessary to remain in good standing with local government and marketing partners.
For example, these small-scale livestock operations may be maintained on a limited number of acres, thus requiring very careful land and animal management. Additionally, many smaller-scale operations are located in areas where agriculture is not the primary land use. Such operations may be in the urban-rural interface, the suburbs, or even in towns or cities. This fact sheet will provide a basic overview of production, management and marketing considerations for smaller-scale livestock enterprises raising goats or sheep, and discuss the relationship between resource stewardship and long-term business viability.
Develop Viable Markets for Your Products Good resource stewardship results in practices that you can market to your customers through your promotional information. This is important since small-scale livestock producers will most likely be marketing their products through direct to consumer markets, as opposed to conventional marketing with wholesalers and grocers.
Today’s consumers are increasingly interested in how livestock and poultry are raised, handled and processed. They may look for specific practices or management techniques that demonstrate their concerns are addressed throughout the production process. Second and third-party certification programs assure retailers and consumers that the products they are buying come from animals raised according to a specific set of treatment and diet standards.
Among the more prominent certification programs are:
· Animal Welfare Approved
• Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) Certified Humane
• USDA Certified Organic
• Global Animal Partnership
• Food Alliance
• American Humane Certified
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• American Grassfed Association (AGA)
• Certified Naturally Grown
In addition, there are emerging opportunities in ethnic markets such as those designated as kosher (processed and prepared according to the customs and beliefs of the Jewish faith) and halal (processed and prepared according to the customs and beliefs of the Muslim faith).
However, the demand for kosher and halal livestock products is often not aligned with the typical livestock production calendar of later fall breeding.
Therefore, producing kids or lambs for spring holidays is easier than producing them for the winter holidays when you would be breeding your animals in the late spring for a fall birth rather than in the late fall for winter birth (based on a fivemonth gestation period). Targeting this market then implies appropriate housing for newborn kids and lambs that is warm and draft-free for fall and winter births―investments that may be worthwhile depending on the strength of those markets. In any case, market research is essential to ensuring that you have buyers for your products at the times they are ready for sale, and at the prices you anticipate, especially when considering specialty markets.
There are several issues livestock producers should consider when deciding whether to seek certification, including:
• Benefits—Certification may offer producers opportunities to enter new markets (e.g. specialty food stores and restaurants) that require that their animal products be sourced from humanely raised animals. Producers may also enjoy greater customer interest and loyalty or a premium price at farmers’ markets and CSAs.
• Goals—A producer should seek certification from a program whose goals and philosophy align with his/hers and will provide a benefit to the business. Retrofitting an operation or changing a business plan in a manner that is far from the current mission may cause unneeded stress and result in a “bad fit” in the long-run. The producer also should evaluate the feasibility of meeting the scope and stringency of certification program standards.
• Animals—Some programs, such as USDA Certified Organic, offer certification for virtually all domestic livestock, while others, such as Global Animal Partnership, have developed standards for a more limited range of species.
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• Standards—Certification program standards generally address animals’ living conditions, healthcare requirements, nutrition and water, access to the outdoors/pasture, prohibitions on 2 animal alterations and animal transport and slaughter. However, not all areas are covered explicitly by all programs, and the stringency of standards can vary considerably across programs.
• Certification Process—Generally, achieving certification includes the following steps: 1. Reviewing program standards and fees and determining the feasibility of implementation of any required changes, 2. Completing a formal application for certification, 3. Audit of production practices by the certifying organization or a contracted third-party agency, 4. Reviewing audit results by the certifying organization (in the case of a third-party audit), 5. If necessary, altering production practices deemed necessary post-audit.
• Fee Structure—Most certifications require a combination of application, audit and annual certification fees. Some fees may prove prohibitively expensive for small-scale producers, although reduced pricing is available for some programs. Through the USDA’s Organic Cost Share Program, for example, any certified producer or handler can apply for assistance and receive a maximum of $750 per year and be reimbursed for up to 75% of annual certification costs. Although Animal Welfare Approved is a free program, it maintains stringent animal welfare standards which will require additional management time to meet.
• Timeline—From the time of application, certification typically takes several weeks for most programs. However, the timeline may be extended significantly if changes to production practices are required or, in the case of the USDA Organic Program, if a farm has not been employing organic practices for three years.
• Production Costs—Producers may incur increases in production costs as a result of complying with animal welfare standards.
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Some of the more common sources of increased costs include:
a. Larger pasture acreage requirement per animal
b. Increased non-pasture feed costs
c. Alterations or additions to animal facilities
d. Changes to animal health care practices
e. More extensive record-keeping regarding animal history and production practices
A final consideration in planning for meat or milk production is identifying how you will process the product for direct to consumer markets. Such markets may include farmers’ markets, retail and wholesale buyers, restaurants and institutional buyers. Each buyer will have specific tastes and preferences for the product they want to purchase, and milk and meats must be processed according to federal and state regulations.
Packaged meats for retail or wholesale markets must be slaughtered and processed in federal or state facilities that have continuous inspection; each animal is inspected before and after slaughter. Since there are relatively few of these facilities to slaughter and process meat in any given state, it is often challenging for small-scale producers to find a facility that can work with a smaller volume of product. There is an inspection exemption for animals that are slaughtered and processed for household use (by the owner, his/her family, employees and non-paying guests). These animals may be sold by the whole, half, or quarter share of the live animal, and then slaughtered and processed in a custom-exempt facility by the new owner.
Philippines’s Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards
Labeling Requirements:
Labeling standards that are used in the United States are generally acceptable, and are widely used by Philippine food manufacturers involved in supplying both the local and export markets. Local regulations do, in some cases, require different labeling content for a small number of products. These include bottled water and prepackaged processed meats, which are covered by specific labeling regulations that have been developed by BFAD (the Bureau of Food and Drugs). The following information is required to be on the labels of imported food products:
· Name of the food;
· List of ingredients used in the product (in decreasing order of proportion), including additives, flavorings and preservatives used;
· Net contents and drained weight;
· Name and address of manufacturer/packer or distributor, including country of origin for imported products and name and the address of Philippine importer/distributor;
· Lot identification.
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