May 31, 2006

 

Philippine feed millers seek lower corn import duty

 

 

Philippine feed millers have asked the government to allow the entry of corn imports at preferential tariff rates given the high price of the grain domestically, an industry executive said Tuesday (May 30).

 

The Philippine Association of Feed Millers Inc (PAFMI) has specifically asked the Department of Agriculture that they be allowed to import 120,000 tonnes of corn under the MAV Plus mechanism and that they pay a tariff duty of only 35 percent instead of 50 percent, the executive said.

 

The MAV, or minimum access volume, is the least volume of sensitive agriculture commodity that the Philippines has committed to bring in at preferential tariff rates under its WTO obligations. In the case of corn, the MAV tariff was set at 35 percent while out-quota imports are given a tariff duty of 50 percent.

 

Feed millers, however, have already exhausted the MAV volume set for the year, which was pegged at 216,000 tonnes, the executive said.

 

To be eligible for the lower tariff duty of 35 percent under the MAV Plus mechanism, importers must seek the approval of both the President and Congress. The feed millers are now seeking the endorsement of the agriculture department.

 

"Even the local producers support our request because domestic prices have remained high," the executive added.

 

Local prices of corn have remained high, currently hovering at around 11 pesos a kilogramme, even as some local farmers are harvesting their crop, the executive said.

 

The executive said about 163,000 tonnes of corn, mostly Argentine, has already arrived in the country since January this year.

 

Around 42,000 tonnes and 25,000 tonnes also of Argentine corn is scheduled to arrive June 2 and June 25, respectively. Contract price averages around US$140/tonne, C and F basis, the executive added.

 

The Philippines imported 57,000 tonnes of corn in 2005.

 

Corn is a major component for livestock and poultry feeds.