More manufacturers to put off Noche Buena price hikes

MANILA, Philippines — More manufacturers have agreed to put off price hikes for Noche Buena products, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported.

“Aside from CDO, Century and Virginia Foods meat products, other brands heeded our call to keep prices in view of the pandemic and hardships of many Filipinos,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a Viber message to reporters yesterday.

“Brands such as Lady’s Choice, Clara Ole, UFC, Alaska confirmed to us that they won’t increase their prices for their Noche Buena products,” he added.

Lopez said the agency expects more brands to join the move to keep prices steady.

The DTI received requests from manufacturers to raise prices of some products used for the Christmas Eve celebration such as ham, spaghetti, tomato sauce, elbow macaroni, creamer, sandwich spread, mayonnaise and fruit cocktail by one percent to three percent.

Aside from Noche Buena items, there are also requests to bring up prices of basic goods such as milk, sardines, canned meat and instant noodles.

Given the ongoing pandemic, Lopez earlier said the requests for price increases are being studied carefully.

He said manufacturers have also been asked to justify their requests by showing cost increases in dollar and landed cost in pesos.

Citing the pandemic, unemployment and the strong peso, Lopez also said earlier that the suggested retail prices (SRPs) should not change unless there is strong cost justification. SRPs serve as a guide for consumers in their purchases.

Meanwhile, the Meat Importers and Traders Association (MITA) is asking the government to reduce the tariff on pork imports to temper sky-high prices in the local market following the continued tightness in supply due to the African swine fever (ASF).

In a letter sent to National Economic and Development Authority director general Karl Kendrick Chua, the group urged that the Cabinet-level Committee on Tariff and Related Matters (CTRM) consider reducing the tariff on pork meat imports by at least 50 percent. The CTRM, which is under the NEDA Board, is mandated to advise the President on tariff-related matters and other international developments and their effect on the Philippines.

MITA president Jess Cham suggested that the duty of in-quota pork imports be reduced to 10 percent from the current 30 percent, while the tax on out-quota pork be slashed to 20 percent from 40 percent.

“The effectivity of the reduction should be until Dec. 31, 2025. This can be done together with the reduction in duty rate of mechanically deboned meat,” Cham said.

“We are now feeling the effects of the pork shortage brought about by ASF, which is a very difficult disease to eradicate and we foresee that pork supply will remain short for many years to come,” he added.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) recently adjusted upward the suggested retail price for pork products as supply remains scarce. Pork prices currently range from P320 to a high of P360 per kilo.

Reducing tariffs on imported commodities is not new. Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo temporarily reduced import duty on pork and poultry on several occasions during her term.

In 2018, President Duterte, through an executive order, reduced to zero the tariffs on imported fish, corn, vegetables and feed wheat to curb inflation at the time.

Duterte can only issue an EO when Congress is in recess.

Inflation quickened to 2.5 percent in October and the government attributed the growth in consumer prices to upticks in food prices, particularly pork and fish.

“If pork tariff is not reduced, then nothing will temper the price rise of local pork. Stocks will be depleted by Christmas. The situation is different now, Luzon production is not there and ASF is likely to keep on spreading,” Cham said.

“The reduction in import duties will certainly help our country and economy recover from COVID-19 and it will provide our consumers with affordable meat for their protein requirement,” he added.

While the DA is already moving to transport to Luzon hogs and pork meat from the Visayas and Mindanao, Cham emphasized that these cannot meet demand and that whatever is brought to the island would not be sustainable both in price and volume. – Louise Maureen Simeon