The Department of Agriculture (DA) is considering the amendment of the minimum access volume (MAV) for imported pork, whose rules were allegedly exploited by a few accredited exporters.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said MAV rules, written in 1996, necessitate a revision to keep them in tune with the market’s needs today.

Pork imports under MAV have a lower tariff of 15 percent, compared to the regular rate of 25 percent.

Currently, MAV allocation totals 55,000 metric tons (MT), 30,000 MT of which are set aside for meat processors in a bid to ensure lower priced processed meat.

In reviewing the MAV, Laurel said he recently found that of the present 130 quota holders, only 47 account for 80 percent of the total allocation.

Further, just 22 out of these 47 quota holders are seen to have cornered 70 percent of that volume.

Laurel added that many of the MAV quota are often reused, which inflate the total import value.

“The sad part about this is that consumers don’t benefit [from] the reduced tariff,” he said.

Laurel said the DA’s Policy and Planning Office is already reformulating MAV policies, with a final output ready by October this year.

Last February, he told reporters that the agency is looking to increase allocation to meat processors to 40,000 MT.

The remaining 15,000 MT will be set aside for Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) to allow the state-owned corporation to have the resources to intervene in the market to stabilize pork prices.

To tame soaring prices, the DA is currently implementing a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) on locally produced pork.

The agency has set an MSRP of ₱380 per kilo for liempo (belly) and ₱350 per kilo for kasim (shoulder) and pigue (ham), as well as ₱300 per kilo limit for “sabit ulo” or the price at which traders pass pork to retailers.