DA forms panel to probe alleged corruption in pork imports allocation

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said Wednesday it has created a special committee to look into allegations of corruption in the allocation of meat import certificates under the in-quota minimum access volume (MAV) scheme.

"While we stand firm that the issuance of MAV in-quota allocation is above-board and non-discretionary, we have created a special committee to to look into allegations made by a lawmaker that there is a syndicate in the DA engaged in a payoff scheme," Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a statement.

The committee is headed by the DA’s legal service chief, and will base its inquiry on the initial findings of the DA-MAV secretariat.

Earlier, Senator Panfilo Lacson called for a Senate investigation into the alleged activities of a syndicate within the DA which he said could possibly gain billions of pesos in "tongpats" or padded costs from the recommendation to reduce tariff rates and increase MAV allocation on pork imports.

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.

Lacson said there have been reports of unscrupulous individuals imposing "tongpats" or padded costs amounting to P5 to P7 per kilo of imported pork.

DA-MAV Secretariat Executive Director Jane Bacayao insisted that the allegation of corruption to get an MAV import certificate is “remote” as existing licensees are the same ones every year, and who were previously accredited by the past DA administrations.

Further, there are no disparities between the allocations of the current MAV licensees and those given prior to the current DA administration, according to the DA-MAV Secretariat.

"We would like to emphasize that our objective in increasing the MAV and reducing tariff is to stabilize supply and price of pork,” Dar said.

The DA is proposing to increase the MAV on pork imports to 400,000 metric tons from the current 54,000 metric tons to augment domestic supply due to the constraints brought by the African swine fever (ASF).

It is also proposing to lower tariffs from 30% to 5% for this year.

Under the MAV scheme, the DA issues MAV Import Certificate to MAV licensees that may avail part of the annual in-quota allocation of 54,000 metric tons and pay a tariff of 30%.

Firms wanting to import beyond the MAV volume, called as out-quota, will have to pay a higher tariff of 40%.

The DA-MAV secretariat imposes penalties on licensees that were not able to utilize 70% of their allocation for the year.

The unused volume is recalled and deducted from the licensee and will be raffled off to qualified applicants.

In addition to securing an MAV import certificate, licensees need to seek Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance (SPSIC) from the DA's Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to ensure that pork or other meat products are safe, hygienic and disease-free and do not compromise public health and safety.

The DA said it does not allow imports of meat and processed meat products from countries where there are existing major animal diseases. —KBK, GMA News