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APART
from putting money into the local farm sector, local
agricultural producers also pushed for the need to
ensure that their efforts to become competitive will not
be threatened by the possibility of cheap and subsidized
imports competing against their own produce.
While
local agribusinesses and producers welcomed the
P43-billion investment package for FIELDS (fertilizer,
irrigation and infrastructure, special education,
loans, dryers and seeds) unveiled by President Arroyo in
Clark, Pampanga, during the Food Summit on Friday, they
asked the government to be conscious of their interests
when negotiating at the World Trade Organization (WTO)
or bilateral and regional trade agreements.
“In
negotiations at the WTO and other free-trade agreements
[FTAs], we ask the government to preserve the tariff
structure on chicken,” said Rita Palayabyab, president
of the Philippine Association of Broiler Integrators (Pabi).
Currently, imported chicken is slapped a uniform tariff
of 40 percent. Aside from the duty, the government also
slaps additional duties when imported chicken exceeds
the so-called “trigger price.”
In two
years, however, tariffs on chicken will go down to zero
to 5 percent under the Asean Free-Trade Area (Afta)-Common
Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme.
Pabi
echoed the sentiments of other local farm producers who
have been advocating the need to preserve the tariffs on
their commodities.
Sugar
producers are becoming increasingly vocal about the need
for the government to preserve the existing tariff
regime on sugar that is traded under the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)-FTA, or Afta.
The
Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations Inc.
advocated tariff protection to ensure that local sugar
producers could go head to head with Thai farmers who
are subsidized by their government. Since 2005 sugar
producers have been asking the government to negotiate
for the reclassification of sugar to the so-called
“highly sensitive list.” This will allow the Philippines
to delay the reduction of tariffs on sugar.
Hog
raisers led by the National Federation of Hog Farmers
Inc. are also asking the government to negotiate for a
possible delay in tariff reduction under the Afta-CEPT.
Local
farm producers said tariff protection, hand in hand with
increased investments in a long-neglected sector, will
give them the relief they need, especially since new
developments such as climate change and the spiraling
cost of fuel in the world market have presented new
challenges to the production of enough food to feed a
growing population.
Experts
and scientists have warned that climate change and the
rush to produce biofuel, which is an alternative to
expensive fuel, will cause the global supply of food to
tighten, making it harder for countries relying on
imports such as the Philippines to feed its people.
The
Philippines relies on imports to prop up its supply of
rice and other foodstuffs such as corn, wheat, and
chicken. In previous years these commodities could be
imported easily from various foreign sources. |
