THE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday welcomed the increase in the country’s corn import quota to 500,000 metric tons (MT), saying it would help contain feed costs and prevent further increases in meat prices.
Farmer groups, however, warned that the measure could hurt local corn producers while offering consumers only marginal savings.
Executive Order (EO) 129, signed Oct. 26, raises the minimum access volume (MAV) for corn from 220,000 MT to 500,000 MT. The MAV allows a specified volume of imports to enter at lower tariffs.
Corn is a principal energy source in animal feed. Higher corn prices raise costs for feed millers and livestock raisers and can eventually push up meat prices, the DA said.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s EO would help livestock and poultry producers secure affordable feed, which accounts for a substantial share of their operating expenses.
The order seeks to address a projected yellow corn deficit of 1.422 million MT from March to December amid rising fertilizer, fuel and freight costs and weather risks, including El Niño.
Marcos submitted the proposed increase to Congress on Sept. 29. It was deemed approved after lawmakers took no substantive or dispositive action within the prescribed 15-day period.
The MAV Management Committee must issue implementing guidelines within 30 days of the order’s effectivity, ensuring transparent and equitable allocation to qualified feed millers, manufacturers and farmers’ groups producing feed for their own livestock and poultry.
Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) Executive Director Jayson Cainglet said the group opposed the additional quota because it reinforced reliance on imports to address supply shortages and price pressures.
He said the feed milling industry’s survival also depended on viable local livestock and poultry operations. Policies addressing feed costs must consider their broader effects on domestic production and food self-sufficiency, he added.
Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) national manager Raul Montemayor said the potential retail price reductions were small and depended on traders and processors passing on the savings.
He estimated that lower tariffs could reduce costs by about P2 per kilogram of dressed chicken and P3/kg of pork — roughly 1 percent of current retail prices.
Montemayor warned that intermediaries could retain the savings, leaving consumers with little benefit.
He said the country already imports corn and corn substitutes without volume limits to cover shortages; the expanded MAV allows more shipments at lower tariffs.
He also warned that the additional imports could arrive as local corn farmers begin harvesting early next year.
