A total of Fifteen AEWs of CAR attended the training on Basic Meat Inspectors Course held on March 13 to April 4, 2023 at the Regional Training Center of the Agricultural Training Institute in the Cordillera with a practicum at the different slaughterhouses at Gismundo in Pangasinan, Baguio City, and Tuba, Benguet.
The main objective of the course is for the participants to be able to do meat inspections in their respective areas of operation effectively. Ms. Maribeth Ladu-an, project officer of the course explained at the onset of the training that the main purpose of meat inspection is to prevent and detect public health hazards such as foodborne pathogens or chemical contaminants in meat. Meat inspection also plays an integral part in the overall monitoring system of certain animal diseases and the verification of compliance with animal welfare standards. This is an important control point for the early identification of problems that may impact public health as well as animal health and welfare.
The Basic Meat Inspection Course (BMIC) is a capability-building activity designed for Local Government Unit Meat Inspectors, Meat Control Officers, and other personnel performing meat inspection work. It is basically an upgrading of skills of people involved in meat inspection in ensuring that meat prepared for human consumption is safe and has undergone the required inspection.
Experts from the National Meat Inspection Services (NMIS) RTOC of CAR serve as resource persons covering the nine (9) modules of the course. Module 1 covers the legal framework: Laws and Issuances; Module 2 is all about the basic anatomy and physiology relative to meat inspection and meat science; Module 3 is on the principles of disease and important diseases of livestock and poultry; Module 4 concerns the Meat establishment; Module 5 is on humane handling and slaughtering of food animals; Module 6 is about meat inspection proper; Module 7 is on meat safety and quality assurance; Module 8 on the documentation and reporting; and Module 9 is the practicum part of the training.
“I am thankful that I was included in this training. I really learned a lot. In the case of Mt. Province, only the municipality of Tadian has a registered slaughterhouse. Bontoc is the center of Mt. Province however, it didn’t have any slaughterhouse. It is important to have a slaughterhouse in the municipality and hopefully, the budget will be approved by 2025. We also don’t have a plantilla position for meat inspector to monitor the markets. I hope I can share the knowledge I gained so that we can have safe meat for all!” said Mr. George Edward Botengan of Bontoc, Mt. Province during the closing program.
