Grace period until February 8 for pork, maximum chicken prices

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) has given pig and poultry farmers until February 8 to follow the maximum prices for pork and chicken sold in the public markets of Metro Manila amid of increasing pressure from groups that resist.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said Tuesday that the “grace period” would give them time to adjust.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order No. 124 on Monday imposing a 60-day price freeze to immediately crush the exorbitant prices of pork and chicken in public markets.

Pork cuts currently sell for as high as P440 per kilo and seasoned chicken for P200 per kilo. Duterte approved a maximum price of P270 to P300 per kilo of pork and P160 per kilo of chicken on the recommendation of the DA.

Pig and poultry farmers, traders and resellers said the fixed prices were too low. According to industry leaders, fees must be at least P330 to P360 per kilo of pork and P170 to P190 per kilo of chicken for farmers to make a profit.

Unscrupulous merchants

Dar reiterated his position that unscrupulous traders and wholesalers were making huge profits of over P200 per kilo between retail prices and retail prices for pork during a joint hearing of agriculture committees. and food and on trade and industry from the Chamber on Tuesday.

Authorities are now keeping a close eye on wholesalers and traders who are allegedly responsible for driving up pork prices, he said.

“Entrepreneurs will continue to make a profit, if only traders or wholesalers do not manipulate the price on the farm. They are the ones who dictate that the prices at the farm exit must be set, ”said Dar.

The United Broilers Raisers Association (Ubra) and the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines Inc. said that the coronavirus pandemic and African swine fever had dramatically changed spending for the poultry and pig sectors.

For example, the groups said the price of day-old chicks has reached a record high, while the costs of transporting pigs to Luzon from Visayas and Mindanao also increased.

“This measure will come down to producers,” said Chester Warren Tan, president of the National Federation of Pork Producers Inc.

“Remember that our supplies do not have SRP (suggested retail price) and our raw materials have already tripled. I speak on behalf of all pig producers, especially those in Visayas and Mindanao, to ask DA to grant us a pardon. This would not encourage more production, ”he said.

Tariff cuts

All industry groups present at the House hearing also opposed the district attorney’s proposal to reduce tariffs on pork and rice and expand import volume below the minimum access volume.

The president of Alyansa Agrikultura, Ernesto Ordoñez, said that, according to his group’s analysis, current landing prices for imported chicken and pork were lower than the prices of local products.

“There is no need to do [imports] cheaper because they are already arriving. If the government does, they will further harm local producers … This is an insult to injury, ”he said.

Dar said the DA must implement a combination of interventions to ensure the country’s food security, including increasing local production and imports. He admitted the pork supply shortage due to African swine fever and that the maximum price was a short-term solution to the problem.

Retailers, sellers

He clarified that the price freeze will apply only to public or wet markets in Metro Manila, with the local price coordination councils, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce and Industry, the Department of the Interior and the Local Government leading the implementation.

Senate leaders said Tuesday that the president’s order to impose caps on pork and chicken prices could be well-intentioned but reckless, warning of its adverse consequences for pig and poultry farmers and small vendors. .

“Allowing prices to rise in the short term incentivizes producers to increase production,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto told the Inquirer. “On the contrary, a price freeze will not incentivize producers and production will decrease.”

Since the last quarter of 2020, there has been a notable uptrend in prices not only for meat but also for vegetables and fish, hurting poor families who are still recovering from the economic costs of the pandemic.

Senator Risa Hontiveros urged the government to protect market retailers and sellers from being held accountable for high pork and chicken prices.

In a statement, Hontiveros said the district attorney must “enhance his vigilance and focus on specific industry players who may be responsible for the extraordinary price spikes, even when farm prices remain low.”

He said he hoped the district attorney would heed the Commerce Secretary Ramón López’s recommendation to impose a suggested retail price not just on retailers, “but at all levels of the value chain, from farm to farm, wholesalers and traders “.

In this way, according to the senator, “the ax can be made to fall precisely where it should.” —WITH REPORTS FROM JULIE M. AURELIO, JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE, AND DJ YAP

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