DA to review dairy law to boost PH milk production

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said Thursday it is planning to review the dairy industry law in a bid to boost the country's milk production.

In a news release, the DA said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. had a meeting with the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI), during which he said that the Agriculture Department will review Republic Act 7884 or The National Dairy Development Act of 1995.

The DA will look particularly into the law’s provision requiring commercial milk processors and domestic dairy cooperatives to agree on the volume of locally produced milk that will be absorbed by the commercial sector.

The agency said a specified volume would have been determined three years after the passage of the act or by 1998.

However, despite the passage of the law, domestic production has remained low at less than 1% of annual demand.

“We will draft a measure that will activate the provision of the dairy law,” said Tiu Laurel.

For its part, the PCAFI said a volume hasn’t been agreed upon and suggested that the DA, through the National Dairy Authority, sets a rule that will “require commercial milk processors and traders to secure their milk supply from local sources at least 5% of their total requirement, within a full or staggered basis over a certain fixed period.”

The Philippines imported $1.6 billion of milk in 2022, mostly in powdered form, from Australia, New Zealand and the US, according to the DA.

PCAFI suggested that if commercial processors and traders won’t agree to a minimum volume, then the DA could either require a safeguard duty on imported milk that will help fund the development of the local dairy industry or require commercial processors and traders to establish their own dairy farms in the Philippines.

NDA data show that cattle production in 2023 reached 17,850 metric tons, accounting for roughly 0.8% of total milk consumption of 1.937 million metric tons.

For this year, the DA said the dairy authority is projecting consumption this year to reach 1.978 million metric tons.—RF, GMA Integrated News