THE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday said it is looking to overhaul the minimum access volume (MAV) allocation system for pork to make the process more fair.
MAV rules were formulated almost three decades ago and have been “exploited by a small number of accredited importers,” it said in a statement.
The DA’s Policy and Planning Office will come up with a recommendation by October, the department said.
“Our MAV rules were written in 1996 and when I read them, I found a lot of room for improvement. So, we have to revise the MAV,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. was quoted as saying.
The MAV is a feature of the World Trade Organization system. Members must commit to open their markets to a minimum quantity of imports that are charged reduced tariffs.
Pork imports falling within the MAV quota are subject to a tariff of 15%, against the regular rate of 25%. The MAV allocation for pork is 55,000 metric tons (MT), with 30,000 MT going to meat processors.
Mr. Laurel said of the 130 quota holders, 47 account for 80% of the total; of the 47, 22 have cornered 70% of the volume of the top importers.
“In reality, 22 MAV quota holders account for 55% of the total volume,” he said.
“The sad part about this is that consumers don’t benefit from the reduced tariff,” he said.
Asked to comment, Meat Importers and Traders Association (MITA) President Jess C. Cham said via Viber: “The licensees who have retained their allocations have all done so in accordance with MAV guidelines. We should not fault them for that.”
Mr. Cham said to accommodate more importers, the MAV volume should be increased.
“It has been 30 years after all.”
Mr. Cham said the DA “refuses to see the main problem” which is the lack of hogs, noting that due to the African Swine Fever outbreak in 2019, pork production dropped to 1 million MT in 2024.
Pork production pre-MAV was 1 million MT in 1995. It peaked at 1.9 million MT in 2019, he noted.
“With a production drop of 900,000 tons, MITA proposed to increase the MAV to 500,000 tons,” Mr. Cham said. “This is still not enough to cover the deficit.”
The DA is projecting pork production in 2025 to increase to 1.15 million MT.
National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc. Vice-President Alfred Ng said giving a big part of the MAV to processors may benefit consumers more.
“Traditional MAV importers which are traders will not (pass on the) benefits to consumers,” he said via Viber.
The DA said as initially planned, it is considering increasing allocation to meat processors to 40,000 MT.
It said Food Terminal, Inc. will also be given an allocation — initially set at 15,000 MT — to allow it to intervene in the market should pork prices increase.
MITA has been calling on the DA to issue the MAV allocation as soon as possible to avoid trade disruptions that could lead to a spike in pork prices.
Mr. Laurel in February said meat processors will be allowed to import 35,000 MT of pork. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza