The National Economic and Development Authority said that the implementation of non-tariff barriers on imports, such as the requirement of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPSIC), has hurt Filipino consumers.

In a statement on Thursday, April 25, NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan shared that the use of clearances and permits as non-tariff barriers resulted in delays in the arrival of imported supplies.

In turn, private-sector importers were not able to respond to market signals and bring in the right volume of imports at the right time to meet the demand for food, Balisacan explained.

“This had the unintended effects of: 1) hurting our farmers when mistimed imports flooded the market during periods of harvest; 2) raising prices faced by Filipino consumers; and 3) prompting our monetary authorities to raise interest rates to rein in inflationary pressures,” he added.

To minimize these issues, the NEDA chief said that the Administrative Order No. 20, which aims to remove non-tariff barriers, will be a strategic and necessary measure to ensure food security and affordability of food.

Balisacan said that he acknowledges the effect of the AO 20 to local production and that they remain committed to investing measures that will raise the yield of farmers and increase their incomes, however, he noted that “the impact of these interventions takes time to materialize.”

“The complex and multifaceted issues troubling our agricultural sector run deep. Only fundamental reforms, along with committed and strategic interventions sustained over many years, will enable us to progressively address the gaps that constrain the sector’s supporting infrastructure, the adoption of modern technologies and processes, as well as farmers’ and fisherfolk’s access to markets and finance,” he said.

“It is crucial to emphasize that neither NEDA nor the government is biased toward importation. Rather, the government bears the responsibility of utilizing various instruments in its arsenal of policy tools to stabilize prices while performing a delicate balancing act,” he further said.

The AO 20, according to Balisacan, will enhance the transparency of the policy regime that governs the importation of food commodities and will streamline administrative processes by reducing importation requirements.

“Provided that importers comply with all the necessary administrative requirements, all SPSIC applications that are not processed within the specified period shall be considered approved,” he said.

President Marcos earlier issued AO 20, which ordered the Department of Agriculture (DA) to undertake measures easing the administrative procedures for importing agricultural products.

He also instructed DA, along with the Department of Trade and Industry or the Department of Finance, to ease the procedures and requirements “in the licensing of importers, minimize processing time of application for importation, and exempt licensed trades from submission of registration requirements."