DA seeks price ceiling on pork products

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is seeking President Duterte’s approval to impose a price ceiling on pork products to as low as P270 per kilo, as consumers continue to feel the pinch of rising food costs.

In a webinar yesterday, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the DA is working on stabilizing the supply and price of pork in Metro Manila by imposing a price ceiling.

“We are working with the Palace to consider what we call a price ceiling for pork, now that we’ve reached P400 per kilo in the market,” Dar said during The Outstanding Filipino Lecture Series.

“Our recommendation to the Palace is for the President to approve a price ceiling of P270 for pork kasim and P300 for pork liempo,” he said.

Latest market monitoring showed that the price of pork shoulder or kasim ranges from P340 to P400 per kilo while pork belly, or liempo, is now at P400 to P450 a kilo.

The suggested retail price of these commodities is at only P260 and P290, respectively.

The sky-high prices of pork are due to limited supply, as the African swine fever remains a challenge in the country, especially now that the disease has crept into the Visayas.

Millions of hogs have already been lost and consumers are feeling the brunt of limited supply as prices of pork have been soaring since last year.

“It will be more affordable if we have those levels of prices. Once approved by the President, a price freeze will be in effect in the next 60 days,” Dar said.

“This, while we bring in more pork supplies from abroad and the green areas all over the country,” he said.

The DA is now going through the process of increasing the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme for pork imports to 162,000 metric tons, from 54,000 MT, to boost supply and temper rising prices.

Imports under MAV are only levied with a 30 percent tariff while those out-quota imports are slapped with a 40 percent tariff.

The department is also ramping up shipments of hogs and pork products from the Visayas and Mindanao to augment the shortfall in Luzon, particularly in Metro Manila.