Adjustments on pork tariffs, volumes 'good as approved' —Sotto

The adjustments on the minimum access volume (MAV) and tariff rates for imported pork products under Executive Order (EO) No. 128 are “good as approved,” Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Thursday.

“Palagay ko good as approved na ‘yan kasi nung mag-usap kami ni [Finance Secretary] Sonny Dominguez, that I gave him the go-signal, as far as the Senate is concerned and some of the leaders of the hog raisers that we talked to, he said ‘Right now, right this moment, I will inform the President,’” Sotto said in an online interview with reporters.

(I think the agreement was good as approved because I have talked with Finance Secretary Donny Dominguez, and I gave him the go-signal, as far as the Senate and the leaders of hog raisers that we talked to are concerned.)

“That’s what (Dominguez) said. It's a done deal,” he added.

On Wednesday, economic team members and Agriculture Secretary William Dar said they "recommended that the tariff rates in EO 128 be adjusted to 10% in-quota and 20% for out-quota for the first three months; and 15% in-quota and 25% for out-quota for the remaining nine months.”

Both parties also agreed that the minimum access volume (MAV) should be dropped from 404,000 metric tons (MT) to 254,210 MT.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed EO 128 to reduce the tariff rates to 5% to 20% from 30% to 40% for a year amid the negative effects of African swine fever in the country's pork supply.

However, senators previously asked for the revocation of the EO, as reducing tariff rates would adversely affect local hog raisers.

In the same virtual interview, Sotto said the Senate and the economic team were able to “strike a balance” between the hog raisers’ concerns and the problem of inflation.

“Panalo ang mga Pilipino dito [The Filipinos are at the advantage here] because we were able to strike a balance between the plight of backyard hog raisers and the local producers and the intention of the economic managers and the [Department of Finance] to reduce inflation by at least 22%,” he said.

Still, Sotto said the economic team should inform Congress once the EO was amended.

The EO on pork importation will run for a year, but Sotto said he was assured by the President and the economic managers that it can be recalled once the prices and the supply of pork stabilize. —KBK, GMA News