August 22, 2006

Philippines to reschedule MAV calendar for corn imports

Philippines' Agriculture department announced plans to streamline the country's corn importation schedule under the Minimum Access Volume (MAV).

More focus would be put on imports during the lean months of corn production from May to June, instead of the current schedule whereby most of the ordering is done in January.

The new arrangements would allow the foreign corn supply to better correspond with local needs, Agriculture Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban said.

MAV is the volume of agricultural products set by the WTO for each individual  country. Goods exceeding the quota are subjected to tariffs as high as 50 percent, depending on the country. 

National Food Authority (NFA) administrator Gregorio Tan, Jr. said that, in a calendar-based schedule, the country usually imports starting January and orders additional volumes throughout the year.

However, importers tend to use up all MAV allocations by the last quarter as unused allocations would result in a reduction in allocations for the next year. The end result is an oversupply of the commodity in the later part of the year.

A June-to-June schedule might alleviate the situation, said Tan.

Philippine Association of Feed Millers Inc. (PAFMI) had earlier appealed to the agriculture department unsuccessfully to raise the corn imports allowed under the MAV.

PAFMI vice-president Ric Pinca noted that out of a total corn MAV allocation 216,000 tonnes for the year, the feeds industry has already used up about 144,000 tonnes or 67 percent of the quota.

Furthermore, the demand for feeds is likely to become stronger in the later part of the year with the recent resumption of poultry exports to Japan, he noted.