The country’s meat imports grew 12 percent in the first half of 2026 to more than 870,000 metric tons (MT), as pork purchases from abroad climbed sharply to meet strong domestic demand.

The latest Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) data showed that meat imports from January to June reached 872,274 MT, up from 778,100 MT in the same period last year.

Pork imports accounted for more than half of the shipments during the six-month period, with an import volume of 455,381 MT. This was an 11-percent increase from the 409,693 MT recorded a year ago.

Pork cuts registered the largest import volume by the end of June at 204,183 MT, or 45 percent of total pork imports. The country also imported 131,378 MT of pork offals, 65,558 MT of pork bellies, and 34,348 MT of pork fat in the first half, BAI data showed.

The country continues to source meat from abroad to meet strong local demand for pork, as the domestic hog industry remains far from full productivity amid the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak.

Earlier, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order (EO) No. 116, increasing the minimum access volume (MAV) for imported meat eligible for lower tariffs.

Under EO 116, the government raised the MAV allocation for pork imports to 204,210 MT from the previous 54,210 MT. Tariffs on imports within the quota are set at 15 percent, while a higher 25-percent tariff applies to imports outside the quota.

The additional 150,000 MT under the MAV is allocated between state-run Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) and the Kadiwa ng Pangulo program (120,000 MT) and meat processors (30,000 MT).

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel told reporters last week that the Department of Agriculture (DA) is still finalizing the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the new policy.

“It will be released soon, but basically it will be a trigger point system at a certain price, based on average,” the DA chief said on the sidelines of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) Food Security Forum 2026 last week.

Tiu Laurel said the DA is determining the specific price threshold that would trigger the rollout of the expanded MAV allocation, which aims to maintain sufficient supply and keep pork and processed meat prices affordable.

BAI data also showed that the country’s chicken imports expanded by nearly 14 percent to 291,497 MT in the first six months, up from 255,844 MT a year ago.

Imports of mechanically deboned meat (MDM), a key ingredient in processed foods, accounted for 58 percent of chicken purchases, with a volume of 170,053 MT.

In addition, beef imports grew by more than four percent to 95,769 MT from the previous year’s volume of 91,649 MT, driven largely by beef cuts, which reached 62,141 MT, or 65 percent of total.

According to BAI, Brazil was the leading supplier of meat products in the first half, accounting for 429,691 MT, or nearly half of the country’s imported supply.

The United States (US) ranked second with 105,380 MT, followed by Australia with 47,629 MT, Canada with 37,833 MT, and Denmark with 30,972 MT.