DA rejects call to keep current pork MAV rules

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has thumbed down a proposal by local importers and traders to retain the government’s policy on the minimum access volume (MAV) for imported pork, as the agency stressed the need for a “total reset” to restore competitiveness in the market.

- By DEXTER BARRO II

SEC. FRANCISCO TIU LAUREL

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel outright rejected the proposal submitted to the MAV Management Committee by the Meat Importers and Traders Association (MITA), calling the move “self-serving.”

“You cannot have a few companies control the advantage of lower tariffs. Then they control the prices, then they can manipulate the markets,” he told reporters last Monday, Dec. 15.

MITA earlier urged the government to retain the current MAV guidelines, warning that changing the system could affect the landed costs of imported meat, potentially leading to an increase in retail prices.

The industry group even warned that such a disruption could “negatively affect supply” of imported pork in the coming year.