Meat importers decry delay of cargo quotas
Delaying the distribution of the minimum access volume (MAV) quotas for this year will result in trade disruptions, according to the Meat Importers and Traders Association (Mita).
MAV is a trade mechanism that sets the specific quantity of an agricultural product that can be imported into the Philippines at a lower tariff compared to other origins or countries that do not enjoy such access. This is the minimum volume committed by the Philippines to the World Trade Organization to help facilitate global trade.
Mita said the 2025 quota schedule under MAV was supposed to be released in January based on the existing guidelines. However, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has yet to come out with it.
“This is the second time this has happened,” Mita president emeritus Jesus Cham and president Sherwin Choi said in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.
Based on MAV Guidelines, the Systematic Distribution Process of the Beginning Year Pool (SDP) should have been completed by the first week of January.
This is followed by the publication of tentative allocations in the second week and the approval of final allocations.
“However, to date, the SDP had been scheduled, rescheduled and then cancelled until further notice,” Mita said.
“The delay in the SDP will certainly cause trade disruptions. Importers are concerned of a repeat of last year and orders will be put on hold, delayed or canceled,” the group added.
In the meantime, Mita is calling on the DA to provide provisional quotas to eligible entities “to ensure continuity of trade.”
Under the MAV scheme, the country’s bound commitment is 216,940 metric tons for imported pork.
Furthermore, Executive Order No. 62 signed by President Marcos last June maintained low tariffs on various products such as rice and pork until 2028 to ensure continued supply of essential food products at affordable prices.
The tariff rate on swine, fresh, chilled or frozen meat is retained at 15 percent for in-quota and 25 percent for out-quota shipment.
Meat imports that entered the Philippines totaled 1.33 billion kilograms as of November last year, surpassing the 2023 volume of 1.2 billion kg, based on the data from the Bureau of Animal Industry.
Around half of meat arrivals were pork with 671.56 million kg, followed by chicken and beef with 435.5 million kg and 187.71 million kg.
