New MAV rules for pork ready by October, says DA

MANILA, Philippines — The new rules on the country’s minimum access volume (MAV) on imported pork will be ready by October, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said, noting that the amended policy will be equitable to both importers and consumers.

Tiu Laurel said he is looking at a total overhaul of the pork MAV rules since the existing regulations have not been touched since they were made almost 30 years ago. This, the agriculture chief claimed, resulted in unwanted exploitation by a small number of accredited importers.

“We are reformulating the rules for MAV. The (Department of Agriculture’s) Policy and Planning Office is already on the job and they have to have an output by October this year,” Tiu Laurel said.

“Our MAV rules were written in 1996 and when I read it, I found a lot of room for improvement. So, we have to revise the MAV,” he added.

The MAV has been in the spotlight in recent months after the DA delayed again the distribution of this year’s allocation as it seeks to amend the current import system.

The DA leadership began tinkering with the MAV rules last year when it delayed the distribution of import quotas. The stalling of the distribution of the pork MAV quotas was repeated this year as the DA pushed its chances of amending the rules.

The MAV is a trade mechanism that allows the entry of imported commodities at a lower tariff rate. For pork, imports within the MAV or in-quota enjoy a tariff rate of 15 percent while those outside the system are levied with 25 percent.

The 10-percentage point difference in the tariff rate could spell a huge difference in the retail cost of an imported commodity. For example, an imported pork liempo with a price of P200 per kilo would have to pay P50 at a tariff rate of 25 percent but only P30 at a tariff rate of 15 percent.

In reviewing the MAV, Tiu Laurel said he found out that of the 130 quota holders, 47 account for 80 percent of the total allocation while 22 out of the 47 have cornered 70 percent of the volume.

“In reality, 22 MAV quota holders account for 55 percent of the total volume,” he said.

Tiu Laurel also said that many of the MAV quotas are often reused, inflating the total import volume.

“The sad part about this is that consumers don’t benefit from the reduced tariff,” Tiu Laurel said.

Earlier, Tiu Laurel disclosed that the pork MAV will be distributed according to the following allocation: 30,000 MT to meat processors, 15,000 MT to Food Terminal Inc. and 10,000 MT equally divided to eligible traders and importers.

The Meat Importers and Traders Association (MITA) has been vocal about their opposition to the proposed changes in the MAV, arguing that its decades-long system has been working and efficient.

MITA said any changes to the MAV rules cannot take effect within the current MAV year, thus, any proposals to amend the system must not delay the distribution of MAV this year.

MITA argued that the current MAV system is an almost 30-year-old system that has “served well” through years as “evidenced” by the lack of controversy, especially in the meat sector.