The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has so far collected P3 billion from swine meat imports on higher volumes but estimates it has foregone some P3.4 billion in revenues as of mid-November under a reduced tariff system, the Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement yesterday.
The said the measure was implemented starting in the second quarter of the year to boost the supply of pork and stabilize its retail prices in the domestic market.
BOC said from April 7 to November 12 this year, pork imports have reached 197 million kilograms.
President Duterte had issued a series of executive orders (EOs) that took effect starting April 7 to lower pork import tariffs and increase the allowable import volumes of the meat to help stabilize the domestic supply and prices of this food staple for the benefit of Filipino consumers.
EO 128, which lowered pork import tariffs to five percent within its minimum access volume (MAV) and 15 percent outside MAV for the first three months, was in effect from April 7 to May 14.
EO 134, which superseded EO 128, set tariffs on pork imports under the MAV to 10 percent for the first three months, and 15 percent in the next nine months.
For imports outside the MAV, the tariffs are 20 percent for the first three months and 25 percent in the succeeding nine months.
The one-year effectivity of EO 134 began on May 15, 2021.
“To compute for the effect of the two EOs, we multiplied the dutiable value of meat by 25 percent — less five percent and 15 percent — which were already paid for EO 128, and multiply the dutiable value by 20 percent and 15 percent for EO 134. The result showed a revenue loss of P3.4 billion,” Rey Leonardo Guerrero, customs commissioner, said during a recent DOF executive committee meeting.
Guerrero said the volume of pork imports started spiking in March and continuously grew in April to May, but dropped starting June.
In April, May and June, the volume posted year-on-year growth of over 500 percent.
Pork imports posted slower growth in July, with volume posting 370.4 year-on-year growth, 271.59 percent in August, 164.55 percent in September and 78.47 percent in October.
From November 1-12, pork imports of 7.47 million kg were lower by 11.64 percent compared to last year’s 8.46 million for the same period. – Angela Celis
