Philippine chicken imports hit 173,200 tonnes in Q4 2025

MANILA — Philippine chicken meat imports reached 173,200 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2025, the year’s highest quarterly volume, according to Philippine Statistics Authority data cited in an EU-funded poultry campaign statement dated Oct. 29, 2026.

The year-end influx matters because imported supply helps stock shops, restaurants, and catering businesses as families prepare for holiday gatherings.

The lengthened supply chain also puts origin, veterinary documentation, traceability, and antimicrobial controls in the public interest.

The Philippines imported 545,700 tonnes of chicken meat in 2025, with almost one-third arriving during the final three months, the campaign said.

Fourth-quarter imports were 39.1 percent higher than in the same period in 2024.

The European Union supplied approximately 67,300 tonnes of poultry meat to the Philippines in 2025, based on European Commission data cited in the release.

That volume was more than 63 percent higher than the EU’s poultry shipments to the country in 2024.

The campaign said availability is only one consideration when poultry comes from different markets. Importers, distributors, and consumers also need information about origin, production standards, and veterinary requirements.

European Union rules cover successive stages of poultry production, including rearing, slaughter, processing, and distribution.

The rules address food safety and hygiene, animal health and welfare, and veterinary medicines, while competent authorities conduct official controls to verify compliance.

EU food businesses must also maintain systems that identify their immediate suppliers and the other businesses receiving their products.

That one-step-back, one-step-forward requirement supports product withdrawals or recalls when authorities identify a food-safety risk.

Regulation (EU) 2019/6 prohibits the use of antimicrobial medicines in animals to promote growth or increase yield.

The regulation limits preventive antimicrobial use to exceptional cases involving an individual animal or a restricted number of animals when infection risks are very high and the likely consequences are severe.

The Philippines’ National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2024–2028 also uses a One Health approach that links human, animal, and environmental health.

The EU co-funded campaign “European Poultry – From Our Farms to Your Tables” is being implemented in the Philippines to promote awareness of European poultry production, food safety, animal welfare, and traceability standards.

The campaign said knowledge about food origin takes on added importance during the “ber months,” when families purchase food for festive gatherings and shared meals.

The campaign leaves poultry importers and food regulators with one consumer question: can buyers readily verify where imported poultry came from and which safety controls applied?

More campaign information is available at eupoultry.eu.

Importers should make that proof easy to find.