MANILA – The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) on Friday said the reduction in tariff rates for pork imports did not benefit the government and consumers as pork prices remain elevated.
This, after the Department of Finance (DOF) reported that the government incurred P1.356 billion in foregone revenues due to lower tariffs for imported pork from April to June.
The estimated loss for 2021 was pegged at P11.2 billion.
During the period, the Bureau of Customs saw a spike in pork imports to 76 million kilograms resulting from the increase in minimum access volume (MAV) for imported pork to 254,210 metric tons (MT) from 54,210 MT.
Early in April, President Rodrigo Duterte issued executive order (EO) number 128 and lowered the tariff on pork imports under MAV to five percent from 30 percent and out-quota pork import tariffs to 20 percent from 40 percent amid the negative effects of African swine fever (ASF) on pork supply.
In May, Duterte issued EO 134 which adjusted tariff rates on pork imports under the MAV to 10 percent for the first three months, and 15 percent in the next nine months, and importation outside MAV to 20 percent and 25 percent.
The EOs were meant to reduce the prices of pork in the market, which spiked to more than P400 per kilo due to supply constraints resulting from the ASF which decimated a huge portion of the hog population in the country.
In a phone interview, SINAG chairman Rosendo So said the orders did not translate into a reduction in retail prices.
Data shared by So, sourced from the Department of Agriculture’s Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service, showed that prevailing retail prices of pork kasim is at P340 per kilo and pork liempo is at P370 per kilo.
“The government lost revenues but the price of pork did not go down so it didn’t benefit the consumers,” So said.
“It’s not advantageous for the government and the consumers,” he added.(GMA News)
