Duterte backing hike in pork imports 'ill-advised,' to aggravate supply shortage — agri groups

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 28) — President Rodrigo Duterte’s recommendation to increase pork imports would be detrimental to the local hog industry, with only a few importers standing to benefit from the move, agriculture groups said.

Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines Vice President Nicanor Briones on Sunday said the President's decision to endorse boosting the volume of pork imports while lowering the tariffs in the country was "ill-advised."

“Increasing the MAV (minimum access volume) by 350,000 MT will further discourage the hog raisers to start again, expand or repopulate. That will further aggravate the shortage of pork supply next year,” he said in a statement. “Other raisers will stop their operation because of the effects of importation at lower tariff.”

The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura or SINAG also slammed the President’s move, adding the Department of Agriculture was not able to refute arguments raised by stakeholders during previous hearings at the Senate and the House of Representatives.

“The timing of the letter reeks of cowardice,” SINAG said. "Congress has not been given the chance to deliberate on the matter since the DA knew it can never justify its proposal on a fair platform.”

The group clarified it is not against importation but maintained the current tariff structure is already enough. It noted importers are already currently profiting between ₱200-₱250 per kilo at the current retail of ₱350-₱400 per kilo.

“In the end, both consumers and producers are the losers, while only a handful of privileged importers and those getting tongpats (or kickbacks) will benefit from tariff reduction and MAV expansion,” SINAG said.

Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson earlier flagged a supposed kickback placed on each kilo of imported pork products under the MAV scheme by a "syndicate" within the DA. The department, as well as the Senate and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, is currently probing this allegation.

READ: PACC, DA, Senate to probe alleged corruption in issuance of pork importation certificates

“We are hoping that our champions in the Senate and in the House of Representatives can respond within 15 days to the letter of the President,” SINAG said.

Malacañang on Friday said Duterte has sent the letter of recommendation to Congress in an effort to stabilize prices and increase the country's pork supply, which has been affected by the local African swine fever outbreak.