Cambodia - Pigs crossing the border

06 Aug 2010
Meat Trade News Daily

Srun Pov, president of Association of Pigs Raising in Cambodia, said Wednesday that about 1,000 pigs are illegally imported from Viet Nam into Cambodia every day, and some of them are ill.

He said if such situation continued, the pig raising industry in Cambodia will be dead, adding that the pigs imported from Vietnam are priced at just over 6,000 riel (about 1.42 US dollars) per kilogram, about 3,000 riel cheaper than pigs raised in Cambodia.

Srun Pov, however, acknowledged that throughout Cambodia, a total of more than 4,000 pigs are needed for daily consumption, and in Phnom Penh alone it needs between 1,200 to 1,300 pigs, but the domestic pigs in Cambodia is not sufficient.

He said the country lacks about 700 to 800 pigs per day, but farmers are discouraged to raise pigs because of those imported ones from neighboring countries.

Cambodia allowed to import 800 pigs per day from Thailand, but as their price is higher than those imported from Vietnam, Thai pigs import have been stalled over the past months, said Srun Pov.

In May this year, Curtis Hundley, chairman of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) of the USAID said Cambodia had imported about one million pigs per year from Thailand alone and that had lost about 45 million US dollars a year to the farmers' pockets.

Cambodia is an agrarian country and rich in natural resources, while it still imports pigs, chicken and fish from neighboring countries as well as other household stuff and products for daily consumption.

Cambodia-Boost to pork industry

02/02/2009
Farming UK

CAMBODIA - Local pork producers and agriculture officials are pressing ahead with plans to boost the local industry by improving processing facilities, cutting feed prices and cracking down on smuggling.

This year, the government set up additional border inspection points to stem the illegal flow of animals entering the country and is providing free veterinary services to farmers, reports The Phnom Penh Post.

"We don’t charge for veterinary services for locally bred animals, but we charge 100 riels (2.42 cents) per kilo for imported ones," said Kao Phal, director of the Animal Health and Production Department at the Ministry of Agriculture.

"We are trying to attract more investment in animal food production ... to keep the price low for farmers and create jobs," said Kao Phal.

Officials are also cracking down on smuggling and have installed new inspection points at the border and inside the country.

Each day 800 pigs are imported from Thailand and Vietnam with many more smuggled. Kao Phal said that three smugglers have been caught this year and fined.

Mong Reththy, head of Mong Reththy Group, said his company is spearheading an effort to improve sanitary standards and reduce processing costs.

The company is building a US$1 million processing factory capable of producing 10 tonnes of pork per hour.

The facility will export local pork and pork products within five years, he said.

"We can sell pork abroad at $10 per kilo, but only $5 locally, so we need to encourage exports. Firstly, we need to improve our sanitary standards otherwise nobody will buy local pork," said Mong Reththy. "I think we can export some of the pork and leave local farmers to supply the Cambodian market."

He said that his company will not undercut local farmers, but will raise the standards of the industry.

The facility would source its feed locally, he said, which would allow farmers to sell low-quality grains in-country.

The company hopes to take advantage of Cambodia’s free trade agreements by targeting China and Japan as export markets.

In the long term, the company would make dried pork and sausages for export at a $1.8 million facility, said Mong Reththy.

Srun Pov, the first deputy president of the country’s biggest pork association, the Cambodian Pig Raisers Association, said that farmers earn nearly double if they process pork locally.

"We are asking the government to encourage local processing to boost the Cambodian pork industry," he said.

He urged the government to focus on cutting feed prices ,which can account for 70 per cent of farmers’ costs.