October 28, 2022
Frozen pork imports increase supply in Philippines
The Philippines' National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) said local frozen pork inventory has increased for the second week in a row as rising imports made up for declining local swine farmers' production, the Inquirer reported.
The NMIS said the amount of frozen pork available in approved cold storages increased by 2% to 101,396 metric tonnes (MT) as of October 17 compared to the 99,238 MT recorded a week earlier. This volume, which consisted primarily of imported pork, increased by 21.2% from 83,646 MT the previous year.
Pork imports totaling 32,264 MT were kept in Central Luzon. National Capital Region came in second with 31,431 MT, followed by Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon Calabarzon) and 21,538 MT, respectively.
1,018 MT or the majority of the locally produced pork was retained by Calabarzon. With 712 MT, Central Visayas came in second. The stockpile of dressed chicken, meanwhile, decreased by 2.3 percent from 52,354 MT for the comparable period to 51,148 MT. This was the second week in a row that things got worse.
The dressed chicken inventory, which was primarily imported, was also less than the 54,702 MT from the previous year. While Central Luzon only had 6,796 MT of imported dressed chicken, Calabarzon had 13,457 MT.
Local chicken was kept in 4,401.04 MT in Central Luzon, with 3,974 MT coming from Ilocos Region.
It has been suggested that the reduced tariffs on imported chicken and pork be extended. Executive Order No. 171, which was signed in May, kept the tariff rates for imports of pork at 15% for volume within the quota and 25% for volume outside the quota until the end of the year.
Tariff rates are expected to increase to 30% for in-quota volume and 40% for out-of-quota volume in January of the following year.
The 5% tariff rate on imported mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of chicken and turkey was also the subject of a petition.
MDM is a crucial component of processed meat products and is frequently used as a filler or extender.
The reduced tariff rates on MDM of chicken and turkey were extended until the end of December by Executive Order No. 123, which was also signed by former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. Starting on January 1, 2023, the rates will drop back to 40%.
- Inquirer