MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Finance (DOF) is pushing for a law that will improve the warehousing industry to enhance food storage, deemed as crucial in taming inflation.
In an economic bulletin, Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Gil Beltran urged lawmakers to pass several proposals seeking to modernize warehouse receipts to assist farmers with their credit needs.
Beltran said public works can only do so much in linking farms and markets that storage should be enhanced as well to extend food life across time and between seasons.
“Storage, especially cold storage facilities, are crucial in stabilizing food prices and help ensure food security. Once passed, the Warehouse Receipts Bill will usher in the professionalization of the warehousing sector and contribute to food security,” Beltran said.
He said the government should upgrade the warehouse industry in view of price hikes in meat and fish prices. Although the inflation print slowed for a third straight month in November, he noted that the cost increases in meat and fish require policymakers to open up importation.
November inflation dropped to 4.2 percent from 4.6 percent in October, although meat and fish prices went up by 2.41 percent and 2.06 percent, respectively, on supply constraints.
“The deceleration in headline inflation is a welcome development, but the high month-on-month inflation for meat and fish reminds authorities to adopt more liberal import measures to meet the peak demand during the holiday season,” Beltran said.
Tariff rates for pork imports were cut to 15 percent for those within the minimum access volume (MAV) and 25 percent for those outside the MAV due to the issuance of an executive order (EO) bringing them down until May next year.
In a text message to reporters, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the Department of Agriculture has enforced regulations that limited the access of imported pork to certain markets. As such, he called for the extension of EO 133, expanding the MAV to 254,210 metric tons, up to December 2022.
However, Dominguez said he has yet to evaluate whether EO 134 slashing the import duties on pork should be extended as well. The government lost a total of P3.68 billion in revenues from April 9 to Dec. 10 due to the lowering of pork tariffs.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan has filed Senate Bill (SB) 632 establishing an online warehouse receipts registry that can be used by banks to verify a farmer’s yield when applying for loans.
Likewise, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian has authored SB 2049 revising the Warehouse Receipts Law of 1912 to put up a central registry of warehouse receipts to be managed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.