Groups contend over pork tariff issue
AN industry group said President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive imposing tariff cuts on pork imports failed to arrest rising prices and dwindling supply of pork products.
In its position paper submitted to Senate, the United Broilers and Raisers Association (UBRA) said Executive Order (EO) 128 is “totally useless” and it expects pork prices to remain high.
However, the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF), expressed its support to increasing the minimum access volume (MAV) in quota allocation for imported pork and the reduction in its tariff rates.
MAV refers to the volume of a specific agricultural product that is allowed to be imported with a lower tariff. This is a commitment of the Philippines to the World Trade Organization to facilitate trade between countries.
UBRA said for prime cuts, they noted pork imports skyrocketing by 254 percent to 38.024 million kilos in the first quarter of 2021 from 10.719 million kilos in the same period a year ago.
“The stated purpose of EO 128 to bring down pork prices to affordable levels and dampen inflation will not happen,” said UBRA President Jose Elias Inciong.
UBRA cited data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), which showed that even without the tariff reduction, pork importation surged by 150.7 percent to 110.419 million kilos in the same period from 44.031 million kilos.
The group noted the period accounted for started even prior to start of the lockdowns to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
“Covid-19 was not yet a major problem during the first quarter of 2020. These increases in importation occurred without any cuts in tariff,” said Inciong.
UBRA said the suggested retail price (SRP) for imported pork provided by the Department of Agriculture (DA) is not “significantly cheaper” than prevailing prices. It said the SRP for kasim (shoulder) is P270 per kilo, and P350 per kilo for liempo (belly).
Incion asked: “Since there will be no significant change in retail prices, why forego badly needed revenues by reducing tariffs on imported pork?”
UBRA said the government should retain the tariff rate at 30 percent inquota and 40 percent out-quota.
Group supports tariff reduction
FEF said the DA’s proposal to raise the MAV for pork imports to 350,000 metric tons (MT) from the current 54,210 MT, as well as reduce tariff rates to 5 or 10 percent for in-quota, and 15 percent for out-quota “will help fill the supply deficit and ease the prices of pork in the short term.”
The consequent loss in tariff revenues amounting to P13.4 billion, it said, will more than offset by the cost savings for over 95 million pork consumers amounting to P61.5 billion.
“Access to dependable supply of food at affordable prices is crucial in a national health and economic crisis. While long-term solutions to the country’s meat supply and price are welcome, there are extremely urgent short-term problems that need immediate attention,” said FEF in a statement on Saturday.
Given the pressing need to address pork shortage and rising prices, FEF said Filipino consumers cannot afford to wait for medium- to long-term interventions to repopulate hogs locally and overcome the African swine fever.
“Millions of consumers have very limited room to absorb major price increases in essential goods, as the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in widespread loss of income and jobs,” the group said.
“Refusing to take immediate short-term action will exacerbate the elevated hunger incidence in the country. The immediate task at hand is to give the people access to adequate and affordable food,” it added.