by Raadee Sausa April 10, 2021 President Rodrigo Duterte (Photo from President FB ...
April 10, 2021
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| President Rodrigo Duterte (Photo from President FB Page) |
Not only local hog raisers but also senators “will be utterly disappointed” by the pork tariff cut recently ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte, a senator said on Thursday.
“The local hog raisers will be utterly disappointed not to mention the members of the Senate! That is bad news!” Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd said.
"The MAV [minimum access volume] could have been raised but not the lowering of tariff. [T]he reason they are giving for the lowering of taxes is not acceptable. There must be something else. That’s what we want to find out on Monday,” he added.
The Senate Committee of the Whole will open on April 12, 2021 its investigation into the “tongpats” (kickback) scheme on pork imports.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, earlier said kickback from the racket could amount to P6 billion per year if the President approves the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) proposal to lower tariffs and increase import allocation on pork imports.
The investigation was launched following the adoption of a Senate resolution, which also expressed opposition to DA’s proposal.
On Wednesday, Duterte ordered the temporary reduction of tariffs on pork imports in a bid to resolve the country’s undersupply of pork.
Besides this, the President also recently recommended, in a letter to Congress, an increase in MAV by 350,000 metric tons in addition to the current 54,210.
“There is an urgent need to temporarily reduce the Most Favored Nation tariff rates on fresh, chilled or frozen meat of swine to address the existing pork supply shortage, stabilize prices of pork meat, and minimize inflation rates,” Duterte said in executive order (EO) 128, which was signed on April 7.
The EO temporarily lowered the import duties on fresh, chilled or frozen pork to 5 percent from 30 percent under the MAV quota for three months after order takes effect. The rate will be increased to 10 percent for the succeeding nine months.
The tariff rate for imported meat outside the existing quota, on the other hand, is reduced to 15 percent from 40 percent for the first three months. It will then be raised to 20 percent for the next nine months.
The order will take effect for one year as soon as it is published in the Official Gazette or a newspaper.
The prices of pure pork rose to 20.9 percent in March, according to the statistics authority.
Pork prices in the country’s capital region averaged P329 per kilo in March from P323 per kilo a month earlier, it said.
The 60-day price ceiling on selected pork and chicken products in Metro Manila is set to end on April 8.
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