Albay Rep. Joey Salceda
MANILA – House Ways and Means Committee chair Joey Salceda on Monday thumbed down the proposal of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to reduce tariffs on pork.
“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.
Salceda said even with the current pork tariffs of 40 percent, the imported price will be around PHP187 per kilo.
Considering that pork has reached up to PHP400 per kilo in some markets, he said there is no logic for a tariff reduction.
“Even at a tariff rate of 100 percent there would still be an incentive to import,” he said.
He said the more sensible approach is to fix the country’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance (SPSIC) system, the imports inspection and quarantine system, and imports processing streamlining.
“That’s why I am asking the DA and the Bureau of Customs to submit a flowchart of their processes, so we can study and make recommendations,” Salceda added.
The congressman from Albay warned that an unnecessary tariff reduction could hurt the domestic swine industry, of which 71 percent is backyard production.
Salceda said he is pushing for a dedicated agricultural program from tariff revenues from pork. (PNA)
