The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced plans to overhaul the nearly three-decade-old minimum access volume (MAV) system for pork imports.
“We are reformulating the rules for MAV. The DA’s Policy and Planning Office is already on the job, and they must produce an output by October this year,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel said Wednesday.
The reformulation plan was prompted by a review of the existing MAV rules, written in 1996, where Laurel identified areas for improvement and emphasized the need for revision.
What is MAV?
MAV is an import system that allows certain commodities to enter the country at a lower tariff rate. Under this system, pork imports within the MAV quota are subject to a 15 percent tariff, compared to the regular 25 percent rate.
Currently, the total MAV allocation for pork is 55,000 metric tons (MT), with 30,000 MT set aside for meat processors to help keep processed meat prices affordable.
The DA previously announced plans to allocate 15,000 MT to the Food Terminal Incorporated (FTI) and Planters Product Inc. (PPI) for market intervention, while the remaining 10,000 MT would be “equally distributed” among other eligible traders.
Exploited by some
Upon reviewing the MAV system, Laurel discovered that out of 130 quota holders, 47 account for 80 percent of the total allocation.
Even more concerning, 22 of these 47 holders control 70 percent of the volume, meaning that in reality, just 22 MAV quota holders handle 55 percent of the total pork import allocation.
He also noted that many MAV quotas are repeatedly reused, inflating the total import volume.
“The sad part about this is that consumers don’t benefit from the reduced tariff,” he said.
In a statement, the DA said the pork imports "have been exploited by a small number of accredited importers."
Under the proposed changes, the agri chief aims to increase the allocation for meat processors to 40,000 MT, while the remaining balance will be given to FTI to help stabilize pork prices through market intervention.
To regulate pork prices, the DA has implemented a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) of P380 per kilo for liempo and P350 per kilo for pigue and kasim. MSRP for fresh pork carcass (sabit ulo) has been set at P300 per kilo. However, compliance with these price caps has been low.
