Salceda opposes pork tariff reduction; says only big businesses benefit from it

Albay Representative and ways and means committee chairperson Joey Salceda on Monday expressed opposition to the proposal of the Department of Agriculture to reduce tariff on pork imports, saying the impact of this measure will only be minimal.

"We’ve run the numbers, and our findings are that, at the levels the DA is trying to propose for importation, the tariff reduction will only impact average consumer pork prices by 50 centavos. This is not worth the pain it will cause farmers, and it is certainly not worth the trouble of more inspections,” Salceda said during the committee meeting.

"Even with the current pork tariffs of 40%, the imported price will be around P187 per kilo. Considering that pork has reached up to P400 per kilo in some markets, there is no logic for a tariff reduction. Even at a tariff rate of 100%, there would still be an incentive to import,” he added.

According to Salceda, tariff reduction only "pads the profits of big businessmen."

“Only the big supermarkets and importers will benefit from a tariff reduction. They will already make very big money at the current tariff price,” he said.

The tariff reduction could also hurt the domestic swine industry wherein 71% is backyard production, according to Salceda.

The DA is proposing to reduce tariff for pork imports under the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme from 30% to 5% this year. DA chief William Dar has said if pork import tariff will be lowered, retail prices will fall within the government’s mandated price ceiling.

Prices of meat products have increased as supply ran low due to the African swine fever.

The lawmaker instead suggested allowing more importation at the current tariff rate.

"Whatever is in excess of what we usually import, let’s use the tariff revenues as an RCEF (Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund) for the swine industry. That could reach P14 billion more in tariff revenues if we import all of our shortfall,” Salceda said.

“I’d prefer an RCEF for pork. The free hybrid seeds from rice worked to reduce our import dependence on rice. Let’s do the same for the pork value chain. Because the problem is domestic,” he added.

Salceda previously said the long-term solution in this issue is better feed supply and more modern support systems.—AOL, GMA News