Marcos' EO retains 5% tariff on deboned poultry meat until 2024

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has signed an executive order (EO) keeping the temporary modification of import duty rates on mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of chicken and turkey.

Marcos retained the five percent tariff on MDM poultry "to ensure the continued supply of essential food products at affordable prices, diversity the country’s market sources and help businesses recover and sustain their operations."

According to EO 13, the current global situation brought about by COVID-19 as well as other factors  affecting the sources of MDM have caused "uncertainty in the steady supply" of MDM.

"The high inflation prompted by supply constraints, expected shortage in the global supply, and rise in international commodity prices present economic and trade implications to the country and the Filipino people," it said.

On January 15, 2021, then President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order No. 123, retaining the tariff on MDM of chicken and turkey at 5 percent until Dec. 31, 2022.

The MFN rates shall be subject to review after one year of implementation of the order.

President Marcos is allowed to increase, reduce or remove existing rates of import duty upon the recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), based on Republic Act No. 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. 

Mechanically deboned meat is a vital component for the manufacture of hot dogs, canned luncheon meat, among other processed food.—LDF, GMA Integrated News