DA request to raise offal tariff now with NEDA

Imported offal may soon be more expensive once the National Economic and Development Authority's (NEDA) Committee on Tariff and Related Matters approves a request by the Agriculture Department to raise by 35 percent to 40 percent the tariff on the commodity. The request was forwarded to the NEDA committee, said Agriculture Assistant Secretary Dr. Davinio Catbagan. “There has to be a public hearing before anything is approved or implemented. We have to get the side of the meat importers," he added. Local meat dealers earlier called on the department to impose a higher tariff on pork offal, since its price is now cheaper than domestic pork. The tariff on imported offal — which includes hog’s lips, cheeks, liver, skin and head — is currently at 5 percent, with no limits on import volumes. Offal imports last year grew to 49,450 metric tons (MT), up 67 percent from 29,000 MT in 2009, data from the Bureau of Animal Industries showed. The Philippines traditionally imports pork offal from the United States and Canada, which typically treat those animal parts as waste material. The Meat Importers and Traders Association (MITA), meanwhile, said higher tariffs on imported offal would hurt the poor, since it will affect prices of processed food products, a popular substitute for fresh pork and chicken. MITA president Jesus Chan said that Filipinos who subsist on $1 (P42.90) a day would not be able to afford fresh pork and chicken, which sell around P180 and P130 per kilo, respectively. Apart from imported pork offal, hog raisers also decried the increase in shipments of other pork cuts, such as bellies and deboned pork. Shipments of various pork products reached 162.84 million kgs last year, or 50 million kgs more than the 114.36 million kgs imported in 2009. — JMT/VS, GMA News