Delays in the entry of imported pork under the minimum access volume (MAV) into the Philippines due to continued slowdown in the global transport and movement of imported goods have forced the Department of Agriculture to expand market distribution and channels to areas with higher pork prices.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar revised Memorandum Circular (MC) 23 signed on October 25 to expand the market coverage under the MAV Plus, allowing the distribution of cheaper imported pork outside of the NCR Plus, composed of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite, which have relatively high pork prices.
Under the revised MC, Dar also expanded the distribution channels for the Pork MAV Plus, allowing to sell pork imported under MAV to processors and institutional buyers. MAV refers to the volume of a specific agricultural product that is allowed to be imported with a lower tariff as committed by the Philippines to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Pork imports falling within the MAV are levied a 30 percent tariff, while the out-quota tariff is 40 percent.
In February, President Rodrigo Duterte approved DA's proposal to increase the MAV allocation for imported pork meat to immediately boost domestic supply and to temper the inflationary effect of high prices of fresh pork.
Under the so-called MAV Plus scheme, MAV for pork imports was raised to 200,000 metric tons (MT) from its previous level of 54,210 MT.
The scheme was divided into two tranches. During the first tranche, the government allowed the entry of 140,000 MT of pork under MAV from July to October, while the remaining 60,000 MT should arrive from November to January 2022.
However, based on MC 23, the global problem on transport and movement of imported goods due to the pandemic has affected the arrival of 70 percent or 140,000 MT of MAV pork for July to October. And that from the usual 30 to 40 days of shipment transit time, it was extended to 120 days.
“Hence, the arrival of the remaining 30 percent or 60,000 MT on January 2022 or the end of MAV year 2021 has to be fast-tracked,” Dar said.
As of October 26, the prevailing price of pork ham and pork belly at select markets in Metro Manila stood at P300 per kilogram (/kg) and P345/kg, respectively, based on the latest price monitoring report of DA.