The Department of Agriculture (DA) is considering an overhaul of the minimum access volume (MAV) for pork, since the rules were formulated almost three decades ago and are now being “exploited” by a few accredited importers.
In a statement on Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the changes to pork MAV rules are likely to be released by October 2025.
The agency said that pork imported under the MAV enjoys a tariff of 15 percent, which is lower than the regular rate of 25 percent.
The allocation for pork MAV is 55,000 metric tons (MT), with 30,000 MT set aside for meat processors.
“We are reformulating the rules for MAV. The DA’s Policy and Planning Office is already on the job and they have to have an output by October this year. Our MAV rules were written in 1996 and when I read it, I found a lot of room for improvement. So, we have to revise the MAV,” Tiu Laurel said.
The DA chief said that in reviewing the MAV, they found out that of the 130 quota holders, 47 accounted for 44,000 MT or 80 percent of the total allocation of 55,000 MT. Twenty-two out of the 47 have cornered 70 percent or 30,800 MT of the 44,000 MT.
“In reality, 22 MAV quota holders account for 55 percent of the total volume. The sad part about this is that consumers don’t benefit from the reduced tariff,” Tiu Laurel said.
The DA said that as initially planned, it would like to reset the allocation to meat processors at 40,000 MT out of 55,000 MT within the MAV, and the balance of 15,000 MT would be set aside for the Food Terminals Inc. so it can intervene in the market and stabilize pork prices.
Jess Cham, president emeritus of the Meat Importers and Traders Association, said in a separate statement that the entire MAV allocation should be increased much higher to at least 500,000 MT, to respond to a deficit in local production caused by the African Swine Fever.
“Pork production pre-MAV was 1 million MT in 1995, peaking at 1.9 million MT in 2019. With ASF, pork production dropped by 900,000 MT from 2019 to 1 million MT in 2024,” Cham said.
Cham said that “with a production drop of 900,000 MT, MITA proposed to increase the MAV to 500,000 MT. This is still not enough to cover the deficit.”
He said the licensees who have retained their allocations “have all done so in accordance with MAV guidelines” and should not be faulted, noting that the only way to accommodate more importers would be to increase the MAV.
At present, the maximum suggested retail prices (MSRP) on pork are implemented at P380 per kg for liempo and P350 per kg of pigue and kasim, and P300 per kilo of fresh carcass.
