Local producers call for curb on salt imports
The Philippine Association of Salt Industry Networks Inc. (PhilASIN) said the government must set a cap on salt importation to avoid a glut and arrest declining prices.
“We need to manage the supply importation to prevent oversupply. It applies to all agriculture [products] and it makes sense that it applies to salt,” PhilASIN president Gerard Khonghun said in an interview on Tuesday.
During a public consultation held by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Quezon City, the group suggested that salt importation should require a certification of necessity.
The group noted that the Department of Agriculture (DA) issues such a certificate of necessity to import (CNI) fish, in consultation with the National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council and other industry players, to regulate the entry of imported fish and aquatic products.
“This can be an agenda for the Salt Council, ensuring that BFAR first determines [that there is] a shortage in local salt supply before issuing an import permit,” the group said.
PhilASIN raised two concerns during the consultation. One is that prices of salt are so low that a kilo of salt fetches P1.80 in Mindoro. Also, they observed slow sales of locally produced salt.
Initially, the BFAR expressed hesitation about requiring CNI for salt since there is no legal basis for doing so.
However, PhilASIN pointed out that the same measure can be applied to salt since Section 61 of the Philippine Fisheries Code states that importation of fishery products may be done when the DA has certified this as necessary.
The group also cited Section 4 of the same law, which classifies salt among aquatic resources along with fish and other aquatic flora and fauna and other living resources.
Khonghun said the National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council the DA’s policymaking body on the fisheries sector, can administer the CNI for salt imports.
