THE Department of Agriculture (DA) reaffirmed its support to local hog raisers on Sunday to ease mounting losses due mainly on cheaper imports and falling farmgate prices.
“I’m on the side of Filipino hog raisers. We will do whatever is in our power to provide the swine industry immediate relief,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said.
On Friday, local hog raisers protested outside the DA office in response to the ongoing problems of the industry such as falling farmgate prices, influx of imports, and huge losses.
With this, the agency will suspend the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSICs) for selected pork cuts by mid-November and will run through January next year to halt imports and ease pressure on farmgate prices.
The agency is also pushing for a two-month ban on pork importation as well as restoring the 40 percent tariff on imported pork, the measures the agency had proposed as early as August and September to help stabilize hog prices.
Tiu Laurel’s move aligns with the position of the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG).
SINAG is calling for immediate hike on pork tariffs and a temporary halt to additional imports to protect local hog raisers. It is pushing to restore tariffs to 30 percent for in-quota pork imports and 40 percent for out-quota imports, plus a 120-day suspension on additional pork imports.
The DA, however, said the agency cannot raise tariffs on its own. Any adjustment requires action involving the Tariff Commission and other government agencies, limiting the department’s ability to deliver immediate relief through higher import duties.
The DA is also pursuing a general safeguard measures investigation into rising pork imports that may result in a longer import ban. The push for tighter import controls comes as declining farmgate prices threaten the viability of backyard and commercial hog operations.
Lower pork tariffs were introduced in 2021 under the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte to address supply shortages linked to African swine fever.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. later extended the reduced rates through Executive Order No. 62, signed on June 20, 2024, setting tariffs at 15 percent for in-quota imports and 25 percent for out-quota shipments through 2028.
Latest data from Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) show that from January to August, the Philippines’ meat imports reached 1.14 billion kilograms with pork imports accounting more than half of the shipments during the period where it reached 602.65 million kilograms, a 5.18 percent jump from 573.09 million kilograms last year.
