The Department of Agriculture (DA) is seeking higher tariffs on several imported meat products after their import volumes triggered the need for special safeguard (SSG) duties to cushion the impact on local producers.

Under Department Order (DO) No. 24, dated Aug. 5, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel ordered the implementation of volume-based SSG duties on the importation of certain meat products to effectively curb their entry into the local market.

Commodities subject to the SSG include boneless, fresh, or chilled bovine meat, as well as chicken curry and other prepared or preserved pork products, including hams, cuts, meat offal, and blood packed in airtight containers for retail sale.

Also covered are other prepared or preserved pork products, such as hams, cuts, luncheon meat, meat offal, and blood, that are not stored in airtight containers for retail sale.

Tiu Laurel has requested the Bureau of Customs (BOC), through the Department of Finance (DOF), to impose the volume-based SSG duties on these meat products.

Under Republic Act (RA) No. 8800, or the Safeguard Measures Act, the DA is allowed to impose SSG duties on agricultural products following a volume or price trigger breach without the need for an investigation.

SSG duties take the form of a tariff increase that is triggered automatically through a threshold system, without the need to establish injury or negotiate compensation.

This serves as a trade remedy to protect farmers from volatility in farmgate prices caused by increased imports of certain products.

Under DO No. 24, the DA said the actual import volumes of the imported meat products have exceeded their respective trigger volumes thresholds, which prompts the need for volume-based SSG duties.

The BOC is tasked to compute and levy the corresponding SSG duty in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.

The measure will remain in effect only until the end of the year, unless earlier reduced or terminated in accordance with the law.

Earlier, Tiu Laurel called for the imposition of price-based SSG duties on several meat products, alongside certain coffee and onion imports, after the actual cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) prices of these goods breached their respective price thresholds.

These price-based SSG measures would be imposed on a shipment-by-shipment basis, depending on the difference between the actual CIF price at the time import documents are lodged and the corresponding trigger price.

Based on data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), the country's meat imports grew by 12 percent to 872,274 metric tons (MT) in the first half from 778,100 MT in the same period last year.