The Agriculture chief noted that the farmgate prices currently vary by location, with some producers receiving only P120 to P160 per kilo.
THE Department of Agriculture is carefully assessing the proposal of hog industry stakeholders to impose a P210 floor price of live hogs, although Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said that such floor pricing imposition is not within their mandate.
Photograph courtesy of DA
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. stressed that the government has no legal authority to impose such a floor price for now, but said he is backing a proposed P210-per-kilo floor price for live hogs as farmgate prices plunge to P120 to P160 in some areas.
This was after the hog industry floated the said floor price proposal, as producers struggle with depressed farmgate prices.
“The one who suggested P210 per kilo is the industry, not the DA,” Tiu Laurel said in a recent interview. “Of course, we support that because the farmgate price of hogs is very low.”
The Agriculture chief noted that the farmgate prices currently vary by location, with some producers receiving only P120 to P160 per kilo.
The proposed floor, however, remains a target rather than an enforceable price, with Tiu Laurel stating that no existing law authorizes the DA to impose a mandatory farmgate floor, while a presidential price cap would require its own legal and procedural steps.
“There is no legislation available. No law allows us to put a floor price as of the moment,” he said.
Instead, the DA is pursuing trade measures that could provide some support to local hog producers, with Tiu Laurel adding that he is discussing with the administration’s economic managers the possibility of restoring pork tariffs to previous levels.
The department is also considering higher special safeguard duties, although these measures would take time to put in place.
The DA is also stepping up enforcement against improperly handled imported meat in wet markets.
Tiu Laurel said the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) of the Bureau of Animal Industry has been conducting inspections for nearly a month, particularly checking vendors required to keep imported meat in freezers.
He said the inspections had already uncovered meat that failed to meet NMIS standards.
Meanwhile, the department is monitoring meat prices ahead of the Christmas season, when demand typically rises. Tiu Laurel said some increase is expected but should remain limited.
“Higher demand means higher price,” he said, adding that a seasonal increase of around 1 percent to 3 percent would be preferable.
“That’s what we are examining every time we go to office,” Tiu Laurel said, underscoring the DA’s effort to balance producer concerns over low hog prices with consumer concerns over food costs.
Local pork shoulder (kasim) is currently priced at P323.66 per kilo in wet markets.
