A man cycles past chicken feet on sale in a market in Tongxian, a suburb of Beijing. The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in favor of the U.S. on Friday in a long-standing trade dispute over allegations China unfairly imposed anti-dumping tariffs that restricted American poultry exports. The chicken dispute is part of a larger strain in trade relations between the world’s two largest economies. (File photo from AP)
MANILA, Philippines — The head of a broiler raiser group has accused the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) of having a “god complex” as it supposedly did not consult the country’s agriculture sector when it crafted policies on importation.
Elias Jose Inciong, President of the United Broiler Raisers’ Association (UBRA), referred to Administrative Order (AO) No. 20 series of 2024 during Monday’s hearing before the House of Representatives committee on trade and industry
The directive removes non-tariff barriers when importing agricultural products.
According to Inciong, this stand by the Neda — a supposed preference for importation and market liberalization — hurts the local industry.
“The instant solution of Neda is importation. I cannot accept the declaration recently of Neda Director General (Arsenio) Balisacan that they are not pro-importation,” he told lawmakers.
“They did not have consultations for their recently-crafted A.O. No. 20. There’s no due process,” he said.
“Neda has a god complex. They did not even bother to talk to us. (But) they will actually make importation easier,” Inciong warned.
“We’re faring worse than criminals because at least criminals have due process. For us, we’re being sentenced immediately,” he complained to House members.
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Last April 23, in a press briefing with ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, the UBRA president said the problem of local growers and producers being disadvantaged is because Neda’s immediate solution to high prices is allowing more imports.
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On April 25, NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan released a statement saying that Neda recognizes the concerns of the agriculture sector regarding A.O. No. 20.
He said the policy is necessary to improve the “overall welfare of Filipinos.”
“[Neda] recognizes the concerns of various sectors regarding AO 20, which aims to streamline administrative procedures and policies and eliminate non-tariff barriers to importing agricultural products,” he explained.
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“We reassure the public that AO 20 is a strategic and necessary measure to ensure our people’s food security, particularly in terms of availability and affordability of food, and improve the overall welfare of Filipinos,” he added.
INQUIRER.net has sought the side of Neda for its response regarding Inciong’s comments in the House, but it has not replied as of posting time.