DA tightens rules on corn imports

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture has released additional guidelines and requirements for corn importation in a bid to protect local farmers from declining prices.

In a memorandum circular, Agriculture Secretary William Dar issued new guidelines on the application of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPSIC) for corn and wheat.

“This is in order to address the concerns of our local corn industry to manage corn importation while ensuring enough corn supply for food and beverage processing, research and propagation purposes,” Dar said.

During the main harvest season last September, farmers were at the losing end as prices hit a low of P9 per kilogram, way below production cost, which was blamed on imports and lack of government support.

With a surplus harvest, corn prices plummeted to a low of P9 per kilo, way below production cost of P11.20 per kilo. Prices should be about P13.25 for farmers to earn fairly.

During the virtual Philippine National Corn Congress Thursday, Dar said the decline in prices was partially due to lower demand for poultry due to the lockdown, as well as the continuing cases of African swine fever.

Majority of yellow corn is being used as feeds for livestock and poultry.

The Philippine Maize Federation Inc. (PhilMaize), for its part, said there is a need to rationalize importation to avoid disruptions with local peak harvest period and not exacerbate the problem of storage.

“The displacement effect is not well understood by our government planners and decision makers who only look at the cost parity issue of our importation of grains competing with local supply,” PhilMaize chairman Rod Bioco said.

“They failed to see that if the silos and warehouses of our end-users are full of imported grains bought even at higher cost during peak harvest season, our local corn would be displaced and prices would crash,” he said.

Based on the circular, commodity description in the SPSIC application should be clearly stated whether, corn, corn grits, corn seeds for research or propagation, and wheat for feed or food use.

There should also be an affidavit declaring the purpose of importation which shall be attached to the SPSIC application in addition to the previous requirements which are proforma invoice, and GMO or non-GMO certificate.

Further, the actual product and consignment must be shipped out within 20 days and must arrive not later than 35 days from the date of SPSIC issuance coming from ASEAN countries except Myanmar and 65 days for those coming from Myanmar and other countries.