April 11, 2008

Meat price hike looms in the Philippines

The new policy implemented by the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) which imposes import restrictions on meat products will result to more price increases of meat products here, processors warn on Thursday (April 10).

The Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (PAMPI) said the DA's new regulations limit the importation of raw materials that the industry is using for production.

In separate letters to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla, who is also the executive director of the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) Secretariat, the association claimed that the new policy "will impact directly and immediately to the increase of food prices, specially at this time when alternative sources of food materials are badly required."

According to PAMPI executive director Francisco Buencamino, the DA policy has "disallowed further issuances of the required MAV Import Clearance (MAVIC) effective April 1 and decided to allocate 50 percent of the MAV to livestock producers, leaving only 40 percent to importers/processors, with the remaining 10 percent to government as a discretionary volume for price stabilization purposes".

MAV is the minimum volume for specific agricultural products that member-countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) can import with lower tariff. Importations in excess of MAV will be subject to a higher tariff rate, the PAMPI explained.

Buencamino stated the refusal of MAVIC will result to added cost of importations and will lead to price increases in almost all levels.

He added that limiting the allocation of importers and processors to 40 percent of MAV is tantamount to a unilateral act of government reducing the allowable volumes to less than half of what can be legally availed.