[pork importation grew by 300% in the past 3 years while 20% of the local hog industry has closed down.]

Too much pork? Hog raisers eye 'pork holiday'
By RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News
Posted at 03/23/2012 5:48 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Hog raisers are mulling the imposition of a "pork holiday" to protest the alleged dumping of imported frozen pork from the US and Canada.

Stakeholders have cried foul over the increase in frozen pork imports, which allegedly cut the sales of local hog raisers and led to the closure of some businesses.

Abono party-list Rep. Rosendo Co said pork importation grew by 300% in the past 3 years while 20% of the local hog industry has closed down.


Complicating matters for them is a new Department of Agriculture administrative order relaxing rules on the importation and sale of frozen meat in local markets while restricting the sale of local pork to within 8 hours after slaughter.

Co said local stakeholders feel the US dictated on the government to implement this order.

He said national hograisers will consult other stakeholders to discuss their next move and finalize their positions.

Batangas Hograisers Association president Pedrito Kalaw said in Batangas alone, local hograisers have already lost P50 million since August last year over lower sales.

"Maaaring pamahalaan naiipit sa mga babalang ito dahil lahat nalulugi. Ito po'y survival. Pag naiipit, kapit sa patalim, kikilos nang isang bagay na maaaring very drastic. Mahirap magbigay na official message. Maaaring magbigay sa hinaharap na iyan, official," he said.

Kalaw called on President Aquino to help the industry even as they continue to talk to the agriculture department for their concerns.


http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/03/23/12/too-much-pork-hog-raisers-eye-pork-holiday



Again I shall re-quote my earlier post.  "Looks like the pig farmers are being sold out by this PNOY government with the "BULOK" version of Administrative Order#22.  There is already a deal and the imported meat will continue to flood the market.  That's why Secretary Alcala is completely avoiding and even denying the issue of over-importation of meat products in his reply letter to Mr. Dizon."   

[Draft AO seen to settle PHL-US meat row]

Looks like the pig farmers are being sold out by this PNOY government with the "BULOK" version of Administrative Order#22.  There is already a deal and the imported meat will continue to flood the market.  That's why Secretary Alcala is completely avoiding and even denying the issue of over-importation of meat products in his reply letter to Mr. Dizon.   



BusinessMirror.com.ph
Draft AO seen to settle PHL-US meat row
Tuesday, 13 March 2012 21:18 Jennifer A. Ng / Reporter
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THE United States and the Philippines may soon resolve their differences over a government regulation that affects frozen meat products once Manila issues a new regulation which contains recommendations from US meat exporters.

National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) Executive Director Jane Bacayo revealed that the draft administrative order (AO) which would replace AO 22 includes a provision that frozen meat to be sold in local markets should not be higher than 5 degrees Celsius in temperature.

“This is one of the new provisions in the replacement AO. The provision on product temperature was recommended by US meat exporters,” said Bacayo in a telephone interview.

Apart from setting the product temperature, the NMIS chief said the draft AO provides that retailers will already be allowed to place their products in coolers.

“In the draft AO, we have allowed frozen meat to be placed in coolers provided that it will observe the product temperature which we have set,” said Bacayo.

AO 22 prescribed that retail packages should be stored in refrigerated facilities and transported in vehicles that are able to maintain temperature not higher than 4 degrees Celsius.

It also compelled all entities and persons selling frozen meat to ensure that their products are accompanied by a “Meat and Meat Product Inspection Certificate.”

Meat exporters from the United States and Canada have raised concerns over the implementation of AO 22 which took effect in 2010. AO 22 effectively limited the sale of thawed frozen meat in local markets.

The United States and Canada are major sources of imported frozen meat products to the Philippines.

The draft AO, however, has not yet been issued by Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala. The NMIS, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), led the drafting of the replacement AO.

Meat processors, led by the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) had asked the government to suspend the implementation of AO 22 pending the issuance of its replacement.

Earlier, the DA said the implementation of AO 22 has become a thorn in the agricultural trade relations between the Philippines and the US.

Manila had hinted at the possibility that the US and Canada will block the bid of the Philippines to extend the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice, a form of protection which has allowed the country to limit the influx of cheap rice imports.

The Philippines is seeking to extend the QR until 2015 citing the need to prepare local palay farmers to become globally competitive.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/economy/24491-draft-ao-seen-to-settle-phl-us-meat-row-

[Solons nudge BOC, DA on Smuggling]

BusinessMirror.com.ph
Solons nudge BOC, DA on Smuggling
Sunday, 04 March 2012 22:58
Rene Acosta / Reporter


Members of the House Special Committee on Food Security have asked the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) to look into the possibility of revising existing procedures on the inspection of agricultural products, particularly imported chicken and pork to better curb smuggling.

The current customs boss, Commissioner Rozanno Ruffy Biazon is a former member of the House of  Representatives.

Earlier, Dave Catbagan, assistant agriculture secretary, said in effect that the problem of technical smuggling at the customs bureau could longer be fixed.

He said he had been with the DA for 34 years and he could no longer recall how many agreements and memoranda have been signed by his department with the BOC to address the problem. “They are not being implemented or enforced,” he said.

Members of the House special panel agreed with the proposal of their chairman, Rep. Agapito Guanlao (Butil party-list), that the two agencies must change their existing inspection arrangements by allowing the DA to check on arriving shipments or containers of agriculture products even before any customs activities take place.

The lawmakers said the arrangement should check smuggling activities by unscrupulous businessmen and importers, other than strengthening quarantine procedures.

The special committee, along with the House Committee on Agriculture and Food is currently investigating the Minimum Access Volume (MAV), a trade arrangement that the country embraced when it signed the World Trade Organization-General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT), and its effects into the local livestock industry.

MAV was being fingered as the principal reason behind the flood of imported chicken and pork meats into the local market, threatening the extinction of the livestock industry.

MAV allowed traders and in the country to import chicken and pork products at reduced tariff rates, the total volume of which is within the quota of 54,210 metric tons or 54.21 million kilos of pork and 23,490 metric tons or 23.49 million kilos of chicken meat products annually.

But because of smuggling, which could not be checked by the BOC, more than the allowed quota are being brought into the country and are finding their way into the market.

The lawmakers said inspectors from the DA, including quarantine personnel must be the first to check on agriculture products even before they could land in ports or immediately upon their arrival, and not the other way around as currently practiced by the two agencies.

“The change in the procedure also enables more stringent inspection as to the nature and content of the imported agricultural products,” they said.

Earlier, Dave Catbagan, DA assistant secretary, said in effect that the problem of technical smuggling at the BOC could longer be fixed.

He said he had been with the DA for 34 years and he could no longer recall how many agreements and memoranda that they have signed with the agency in order to address the problem.

Matagal nang magkasabwat ang BOC at DA... Maski ano pang pa ikot-ikot...  Laging Makakalusot ang smuggling.  Kaya sabi ni Asst. Sec. Catbagan... "SMUGGLING AT THE BOC COULD NO LONGER BE FIXED"

[Solons nudge BOC, DA on Smuggling]

BusinessMirror.com.ph
Solons nudge BOC, DA on Smuggling
Sunday, 04 March 2012 22:58
Rene Acosta / Reporter


Members of the House Special Committee on Food Security have asked the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) to look into the possibility of revising existing procedures on the inspection of agricultural products, particularly imported chicken and pork to better curb smuggling.

The current customs boss, Commissioner Rozanno Ruffy Biazon is a former member of the House of  Representatives.

Earlier, Dave Catbagan, assistant agriculture secretary, said in effect that the problem of technical smuggling at the customs bureau could longer be fixed.

He said he had been with the DA for 34 years and he could no longer recall how many agreements and memoranda have been signed by his department with the BOC to address the problem. “They are not being implemented or enforced,” he said.

Members of the House special panel agreed with the proposal of their chairman, Rep. Agapito Guanlao (Butil party-list), that the two agencies must change their existing inspection arrangements by allowing the DA to check on arriving shipments or containers of agriculture products even before any customs activities take place.

The lawmakers said the arrangement should check smuggling activities by unscrupulous businessmen and importers, other than strengthening quarantine procedures.

The special committee, along with the House Committee on Agriculture and Food is currently investigating the Minimum Access Volume (MAV), a trade arrangement that the country embraced when it signed the World Trade Organization-General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT), and its effects into the local livestock industry.

MAV was being fingered as the principal reason behind the flood of imported chicken and pork meats into the local market, threatening the extinction of the livestock industry.

MAV allowed traders and in the country to import chicken and pork products at reduced tariff rates, the total volume of which is within the quota of 54,210 metric tons or 54.21 million kilos of pork and 23,490 metric tons or 23.49 million kilos of chicken meat products annually.

But because of smuggling, which could not be checked by the BOC, more than the allowed quota are being brought into the country and are finding their way into the market.

The lawmakers said inspectors from the DA, including quarantine personnel must be the first to check on agriculture products even before they could land in ports or immediately upon their arrival, and not the other way around as currently practiced by the two agencies.

“The change in the procedure also enables more stringent inspection as to the nature and content of the imported agricultural products,” they said.

Earlier, Dave Catbagan, DA assistant secretary, said in effect that the problem of technical smuggling at the BOC could longer be fixed.

He said he had been with the DA for 34 years and he could no longer recall how many agreements and memoranda that they have signed with the agency in order to address the problem.

The Dept. of Agriculture - Administrative Order 22...

Inutil na batas dahil walang serious na enforcement....

Ginawa at sinulat itong regulation November 23, 2010. 

Ngayon Marso 2, 2012 bale mag-isang taon kalahati na ang lumipas... 

Hindi pa rin mapatupad ang patakaran... 

Tuloy tuloy pa rin ang bagsak nang imported na karne sa palengke.

Pang press release lang para bigyan tayo nang maling pagasa.

[Alcala standing firm on AO22 despite US threats]

Manga walang hiyang Amerikano din may kasalan... Pati sa ating baboy industry nakikialam sila... Gusto nila maging bagsakan ang Pilipinas nang excess supply galing Tate... Kung hindi tayo papayag.... Babagsakan tayo nang NUCLEAR BOMB embes na Baboy...

Hirap sa ating government... Takot sa America


Alcala standing firm on AO22 despite US threats

Manila Times   
Published : Friday, February 24, 2012 00:00
Article Views : 444
Written by : James Konstantin Galvez Reporter

THE Philippines will not suspend Administrative Order No. 22 (AO22), which effectively calls for the mandatory labeling of imported meat products, despite “warnings” from the United States government that it will block the country’s application for the extension of the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said that there have been informal talks with US government officials, who indicated that they will block the Philippines’ application for QR extension if the Department of Agriculture (DA) will not defer the implementation of AO22.

“They have informed us informally. But we will push through with the implementation of the AO while we continue with our application [of the QR] in a normal process,” Alcala said on the sidelines of the Philippine Food Expo on Thursday.

“I will not beg to them. We are talking about the Filipino consumers’ health and the livelihood of rice farmers in the country,” he added.

Last year, the DA chief revealed that a US agricultural attaché have spoken with him, requesting a review or suspension of AO 22.

“They told me that the order would affect them,” Alcala said.

Local meat importers also questioned the validity of AO 22, which covers the rules in the handling of frozen meat—particularly the unwarranted legislative power to the local government units in implementing the handling procedures for chilled meat products.

Should the US file an opposition before the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Philippines’ bid for a three-year extension its QR on rice, which will expire by July 2012, will be jeopardized.

The Philippine government is pushing for the extension of the QR, citing the need to prepare Filipino farmers for international trade and to achieve rice self-sufficiency. An extension of the QR will allow the Philippines to limit the volume of rice that can be imported by the government every year, preventing the influx of cheap rice from other countries.

Earlier, other rice producing countries – particularly China , India and Pakistan – objected to or sought concessions from the Philippines in exchange for endorsing Manila’s request for an extension of the QR.

For the Philippines to get the nod on the extension, rice-producing countries affected by the restriction can request for concessions/market access for the import of certain products—not limited to rice.

During the previous QR extension, Manila had agreed to increase its minimum access volume (MAV) for rice to about 350,000 metric tons, and reduced tariffs to 40 percent from the previous 50 percent.

MAV refers to the minimum volume of farm produce allowed to enter the Philippines at reduced tariffs.

But for the new round of negotiations, one option that Manila may offer is the lowering of the 40 percent tariff on rice imports to about 35 percent, Alcala said.

54 million kilos... Ganito kadaming legal na imported na karne pinapasok taon taon sa ating bansa... Hindi pa kasama diyan sa bilang ang pinapasok sa pamamagitan nang smuggling...   

Big problem especially on the selling of live pigs.
Sobra at garapal ang dayaan sa pag-timbang at sa pag-presyo kahit saan ka magpunta.
Maskina may sariling truck ka pa, paghatid nang baboy sa Manila panay ahente ang haharap.
Magkasabwat nagtatago ang manga buyers sa likod nang madaming middle man.

Di tulad dati matitino kausap ang buyers at middleman kasi dumidipende sila sa lokal na hog raiser para mag-supply.
Subalit ngayon dahil binabaha ng imported na karne sa palengke
Nawawalan tuloy nang halaga ang lokal na live baboy.
Napipilitan ang marami raiser na magpaloko at magbenta nang palugi.

[Livestock, poultry industry collapsing]

The problem is getting serious.  The lack of government concern for the poultry and hog raisers is going to hurt the people in the countryside.  Food security for this country can only be achieve if our government support its farmers. 



Livestock, poultry industry collapsing
BusinessMirror.com.ph
Livestock, poultry industry collapsing
Monday, 27 February 2012 22:52 Rene Acosta / Reporter


The poultry and livestock industries are on the brink of collapse because of the continuing losses incurred by domestic raisers as a result of the uncontrolled flooding of imported meat products into the local market.

The warning was aired on Monday by hog raisers and even congressmen during the joint hearing of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food and the House Special Committee on Food Security. They said unless this was checked, the country was in danger of losing the two industries which are considered the pillars of the agricultural sector and major components of national growth and development.

The problem is being blamed on the unchecked oversupply of imported chicken and pork in the local market, the root of which was traced to the Minimum Access Volume (MAV), a trade arrangement that the country embraced when it signed the World Trade Organization-General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT).

MAV allowed traders in the country to import chicken and pork products at reduced tariff rates, the total volume of which is within the quota of 54, 210 metric tons or 54.21 million kilos of pork and 23, 490 metric tons or 23.49 million kilos of chicken meat products annually.

Lawyer Elias Jose Inciong of the United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra) said they have never recovered and can never compete with importers availing themselves of MAV and swamping the market with imported meat products.

He said the two industries are reeling from the wallop of this form of smuggling that, he said, is being abetted by unscrupulous government officials.

Inciong said that because the imported meat products were cheaper than those being locally produced during the initial months of every year, there is no way the locals could compete in the market.

And when the demands rise during the remaining months of the year because of the holiday season, the traders and manufacturers avail themselves of the special importation, which carries zero tariffs.

“So we are being hit twice…the cheap prices and zero tariffs,” he said.

Inciong asked that the government scrap MAV and some representatives agreed.

Rep. Romeo Acop (Liberal Party) of Antipolo City said the trade arrangement came into being when Congress ratified GATT in December 1994.

He said the MAV should have expired after 2005, but Jocelyn Salvador of the MAV office said a legal opinion rendered by the Department of Justice said MAV did not have an expiry date.

Acop called for the investigation of the issuance of MAV certifications as he noted the increased use of MAV certificates by traders and manufacturers from 2009 up to 2011.

The congressmen said that MAV the problem was exacerbated by rampant technical smuggling at the Bureau of Customs.