The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) is pushing for stricter enforcement of a law that requires manufacturers to buy at least five percent of their milk from domestic sources to support the growth of the local dairy industry.

During the 29th anniversary of the National Dairy Authority (NDA), PCAFI President Danilo Fausto told reporters that in order to boost investments in local farms, the National Dairy Development Act of 1995 should be pursued for commercial milk processors and traders.

“It’s been existing for a long time but has not been implemented,” Fausto emphasized. “It’s been 45 years since we’ve been developing the dairy industry, and it’s still below the one percent sufficiency level.”

According to Section 17, Republic Act No. 7884, dairy cooperatives and the commercial sector are subject to absorb a volume of local milk production, otherwise, “If at the end of the three years, the parties mentioned above have not come to a mutual agreement, the commercial sector shall absorb a fixed portion of the local milk supply to be determined by the Authority.”

“We will charge a special duty [under the RA 8800], which is a special safeguard measures act,” Fausto said.

The PCAFI chief also emphasized the need for manufacturers to create their own dairy farms in the country to get their supplies locally, rather than importing from other countries when local production is insufficient.

“There’s a lot of demand, $1.6 billion worth of imports every year, can we not take a bite of that for the farmers? For 45 years we’ve been trying to do that,” he added.

Meanwhile, when asked about the recent P3 billion funding for the NDA, Fausto stated that the budget could be used to enhance dairy infrastructures in the country.

“We would like laboratory facilities nationwide, we would like to also increase the herd buildup through the importation of dairy animals and more technology, and accelerate the implementation of dairy in coconut areas,” he said.