The Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (PAMPI) said that instead of expanding the market areas for imported pork under the minimum access volume (MAV) plus scheme, the Department of Agriculture (DA) should just allow the sale of frozen meat in wet markets.
"PAMPI had previously recommended that to bring pork prices down, DA should temporarily suspend the implementation of a controversial policy that bans the sale of frozen meat products in wet markets under the Department of Agriculture's (DA) Administrative Order (AO) no. 6 issued in 2012," the association said in a statement.
This, after the group said that the recently issued memorandum circular (MC) 23, which was signed by Agriculture Secretary William Dar on Oct. 25, "is an exercise in futility and will not address the unabated high prices of pork which alarmed NEDA ".
Under MC 23, the market coverage under the MAV Plus was expanded, allowing the distribution of cheaper imported pork outside of the NCR Plus (composed of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite) to areas with relatively high prices of pork meat.
Dar also expanded the distribution channels for the Pork MAV Plus, allowing to sell pork imported 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).
"The high prices of meat products which the government has miserably failed to address are due to dysfunctional policies of the department of agriculture, which misled economic managers in the executive department," PAMPI said.
"The DA had recommended the expansion of MAV and reduction of pork tariffs without notifying other government agencies that the imported pork cannot be sold in wet markets unless they are displayed in freezers and kept at a temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius," it added.
Frozen meat often refers to those that were imported overseas, while locally produced meat is often referred to as fresh meat.
AO no. 6 has regulated the sale of frozen meat in wet markets since it imposed food safety risks due to product thawing and mishandling.
"Recognizing the fact that meat vendors in wet markets have no experience in handling frozen meat and that they don't have the right equipment for it, the policy only allowed imported meat to be sold in wet markets if they were kept in freezers at a temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius "Stall owners in wet markets do not have freezers. They barely have enough capital to pay for daily deliveries of fresh pork. So how can they sell imported pork even if they are priced cheaper?" PAMPI said.
"On the other hand, importers/traders who fell for the reduced tariff incentive cannot move their imported pork to the wet markets, incurring unnecessary storage cost because the NMIS of the DA has threatened to confiscate them," it added.
PAMPI then pointed out that as a result of this restriction, imported pork products are tied up in cold storage, which according to DA already totaled to about 80 million kilograms or about three times more than the normal pre-pandemic monthly inventory as of end-September.
Of total pork volume in cold storage, 25 million kilograms are in Metro Manila; 21 million kilograms are in Calabarzon; 21 million kilograms are in Central Luzon, and 12 million kilograms are in Cebu.
The other day, DA said that there have been delays in the entry of imported pork into the Philippines as the pandemic continues to slow down the global transport and movement of imported goods.
As a result, the Philippine government’s strategy to bring down pork prices through more pork importation didn’t go as planned.