Department of Agriculture Secretary Tiu Laurel Jr. says they are set to review Republic Act 7884, or The National Dairy Development Act of 1995, to boost the country’s dairy milk production. INQUIRER STOCK PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to review Republic Act 7884, or The National Dairy Development Act of 1995, to boost the country’s dairy milk production.
Agriculture Secretary Tiu Laurel Jr. stressed the need to check the law’s provision requiring commercial milk processors and domestic dairy cooperatives to agree on the volume of locally produced milk that will be absorbed by the commercial sector.
He said that after the audit, the DA will come up with an updated proposal that would help enhance dairy milk production in the Philippines.
“We will draft a measure that will activate the provision of the dairy law,” Laurel said during a meeting with the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food, Inc. (PCAFI), as quoted in a DA statement released Thursday.
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According to the DA, the volume stipulated in the law was determined around three years after its passage in 1998. However, it noted that domestic production remained at less than one percent of the annual demand.
PCAFI then suggested to the DA, through the National Dairy Authority (NDA), to set a rule that will “require commercial milk processors and traders to secure their milk supply from local sources (at a volume of) at least five percent of their total requirement, within a full or staggered basis over a certain fixed period.”
PCAFI said if commercial processors and traders won’t agree to a minimum volume, then the DA could either require a safeguard duty on imported milk that will help fund the development of the local dairy industry or require commercial processors and traders to establish their own dairy farms in the Philippines.
Despite the existence of The National Dairy Development Act and Batas Pambansa 21 or the Dairy Industry Development Act passed in 1980, investments in Philippine dairy milk production remained low even amid steady growth in dairy demand.
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The DA said that in 2022, the Philippines imported $1.6 billion worth of milk that were mostly in powdered form from Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
Per the NDA’s 2023 data, cattle milk production reached 17,850 metric tons, accounting for roughly 0.8 percent of total milk consumption of 1.937 million metric tons. This was slightly higher than in 2022, where daily milk output stood at 16,678 metric tons.
For 2024, the NDA predicts that Filipinos’ milk consumption will reach 1.978 million metric tons.