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Govt eyes halting special permit to import chicken


The government plans to stop issuing special permits to import chicken in the face of an oversupply of poultry products in the market, an agriculture official said Tuesday. Agriculture Assistant Secretary for Livestock Dr. Davinio Catbagan said the department plans to stop the special importation of chicken since poultry traders are already complaining of “very low" prices. “Small and backyard raisers are the first ones to get affected by this. I suppose the Agriculture Secretary [Proceso Alcala] will suggest that no special importation should be allowed," he said in a phone interview Tuesday. Low market prices are due to the oversupply of dressed and frozen chicken brought about by an increase in the use of the minimum access volume (MAV) on poultry to 72 percent in the first semester from 50 percent in previous years. "Increase in output plus the MAV utilization will put the poultry sector in a tight spot. There shouldn't be additional importation. They should be able to manage the supply. It will be sad for the industry if the low-price trend will continue until December," Catbagan said. He added that farmgate prices of chicken dropped to P48 per kilogram as per industry data, but that production cost ranged from P58 to P62 per kilo. The problem with low market prices and oversupply prompted Secretary Alcala to schedule a meeting with poultry raisers on Wednesday, Catbagan said. In the last three years, the use of the minimum access volume was 50 percent. Each year, the Philippine government allowed 24,490 metric tons of imported chicken parts at 40 percent tariff. MAV reflects the volume committed by Philippines to the World Trade Organization as concession to its trading partners. The government is hoping that the situation will correct itself in the coming weeks since existing MAV holders have stopped from using import commitments, according to Catbagan. "We're hoping that the current volume stays. But we also have to make sure that this measure will not result to lack of supply. The industry should be able to balance the situation," he said. —With Andreo Calonzo/VS, GMANews.TV

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