The National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) classified the city’s newly refurbished slaughterhouse as Class AA after passing the structural and operational assessment and evaluation by the agency for its compliance to national standards prescribed under existing laws, rules and regulations.
The License to Operate the Class AA slaughterhouse was formally handed over by NMIS-CAR officer-in-charge regional technical director Dr. Roseller I. Manalo to city officials and the City Veterinary and Agriculture Office (CVAO) under the leadership of Dr. Silardo Bested during the regular Monday flag raising ceremony held at the city hall grounds.
Last year, the local government embarked on the rehabilitation and upgrading of the city abattoir to be able to conform with national standards in ensuring the availability of quality meat products to the residents.
The rehabilitation and upgrading of the city’s slaughterhouse was implemented by the local government with the guidance and technical supervision of the NMIS-CAR.
The Baguio slaughterhouse started its operation in its current location in 1998 that continuously provided quality meat products to the people over a period of 25 years.
However, the ware and tare over the years necessitated the rehabilitation and improvement of the slaughterhouse facility.
The NMIS and the local government are mandated to implement the policies of the State embodied in the 1987 Constitution, Republic Act (RA) 7160 otherwise known as the Local government Code of the Philippines and RA 9294 otherwise known as the Meat Inspection code of the Philippines as amended to ensure the protection of human and animal health against direct and indirect hazards such as zoonotic diseases, meat-borne infection, intoxication, spread of livestock diseases and economic losses from meat of inferior quality or of abnormal properties.
Under the law, it is the responsibility of the local government to ensure delivery of quality meat inspection service in order to protect the right to health of the people from consuming unsafe unwholesome and hazardous meat.
Manalo underscored that after all the most valuable resource in any community is human resource which must be protected from eminent hazards.
