DA says no more extension of 60-day price cap, sets SRP on imported pork

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is no longer keen on extending the 60-day price ceiling on meat products, particularly pork and chicken, as it moves to implement a suggested retail price (SRP) on imported pork.

“The price cap ends tomorrow. The EO (Executive Order) 124... April 8 will be the last day for the price cap and there will be no extension,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said at a virtual press briefing on Wednesday.

Retail prices of pork went as high as P400 per kilo in Metro Manila in January, prompting President Rodrigo Duterte to issue EO 124, which imposes a 60-day price cap on pork and chicken in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The Department of Agriculture blamed the high price of pork on unscrupulous traders and wholesalers who took advantage of the African swine fever situation. 

Under the EO, the price of kasim and pigue should not exceed P270 per kilo. It also fixed the price ceiling for liempo and dressed chicken at P300 and P160, respectively.

With the price cap expiring on April 8, Dar said the DA, together with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and various stakeholders, decided to
“impose a suggested retail price for imported pork.”

“Meanwhile, no SRP will be implemented for local pork,” the Agriculture chief said.

Effective April 9, the following are the SRP for imported pork:

• Kasim - P270/kilo
• Liempo - P350/kilo

Dar said the DA and the DTI will implement the SRP on imported pork and have agreed on the following:

• Compliance with existing guidelines on hygienic handling of imported pork as prescribed by Administrative Order No. 6 series of 2021
• Proper packaging and labeling of imported pork
• Creation of a compliance monitoring to ensure that retailers and sellers abide by the SRP

“In relation to hygienic handling of imported pork, we will require importers to package their pork into liempo or kasim in sellable packages of 1 kilo or 500 grams,” Dar said.

He said the DA will continue to encourage hog raisers to supply and deliver surplus hogs from ASF-free provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to Metro Manila and its nearby provinces.

The DA will also continue to extend transportation assistance for those who will supply hogs in the NCR Plus bubble: Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna.

“This will be pursued until the MAV (minimum access volume) plus lowering of tariffs are approved,” Dar said.

Late last month, Duterte recommended increasing MAV of pork imports to 350,000 metric tons (MT). 

MAV refers to the volume of a specific agricultural commodity that may be imported with a lower tariff. This is a commitment of the Philippines to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to facilitate trade between countries.

The DA is also proposing to slash tariff on in-quota pork imports or those within the MAV to 5% from the current 30% and out-quota pork imports from 40% to 20% this year. —KBK, GMA News