Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr approved the recommendation of the economic ministry to extend up to the end of next year lower tariff rates on pork and other food items to help combat inflation.
The modified rates approved in 2021 were due to expire at the end of this year, but an inflation rate running at 14-year highs warranted an extension of the tariff reprieve until Dec. 31, 2023.
“The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) applauds Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s announcement on the extension of lower tariff rates on pork and other food items,” Terry Wolters, NPPC president and owner of Stoney Creek Farms in Pipestone, Minn., said in a statement. “Gaining better market access to the Philippines has been a top trade priority for U.S. pork producers.”
NPPC hopes that the U.S. and the Philippines will continue to work toward establishing better market access through the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. This comes at the heels of NPPC working with the U.S. and Philippine governments to work on the prevention and preparedness against the spread of African swine fever throughout the country and region, he adds.
“This extension is an essential component of the commitment of NPPC and the United States to Food Security for the Philippines,” Wolters says.
According to Reuters, the tariff rate for corn and pork products will remain at 5%-15% and 15%-25% respectively, the press secretary’s office said in a statement. At 8.0% in November, consumer price inflation is well beyond the Philippine central bank’s target range of 2%-4% for this year and the medium term.
“Through this policy, we shall augment our domestic food supplies, diversify our sources of food staples, and temper inflationary pressures arising from supply constraints and rising international prices of production inputs,” Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said in the statement, Reuters reports. “We are determined to steer the Philippine economy to meet the 6.0%-7.0% economic growth target for 2023.”
Read more:
