DA asks Palace to raise volume of pork imports

MANILA, Philippines — The proposal of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to increase the minimum access volume (MAV) of pork imports in the country at lower tariffs is now awaiting President Duterte’s signature, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said on Tuesday.

“Last night, we submitted to Malacañang the resolution by the MAV management council, recommending the increase in the MAV for pork for MAV Year 2021 and is now awaiting the President’s signature,” Dar told lawmakers during the joint hearing of the House committee on agriculture and food and the committee on trade and industry.

“At the same time, the Tariff Commission is finalizing its report and recommendations to the Cabinet committee on tariff and related matters regarding our separate proposal to further lower tariff for pork for a period of one year,” he added.

Dar said the MAV will be increased from the current 54,000 metric tons (MT) to 404,210 MT.

In his manifestation during the joint committee hearing, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda explained that “while direct importation of meat may lower consumer prices in the short term, the move may be unsustainable given growing global demand for pork, and slower growth in global pork supply.”

“Importing meat, then, may not be quite the quick solution we think it could be,” he said.

He warned that the food price issues may merely be symptoms of problems in the agriculture sector.