POULTRY raisers are still awaiting the release of the new rules covering the importation of chicken under the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme.

In an interview, United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra) president Gregorio San Diego said the DA and the industry are still deliberating on the new rules. Earlier, the DA said it will come out with the new rules by the first quarter of 2008.

“There was an agreement before to allocate 50 percent of the MAV to the industry, 40 percent to traders and 10 percent to the DA. It appears that the DA now wants to do it on a ‘first come, first served’ basis,” said Gregorio in an interview.

He said traders want to clarify the “first come, first served” basis rule that the DA wants to implement.

“Malabo, e [it’s unclear]. We want to know how that will be implemented. The DA and the industry stakeholders were supposed to meet recently, but it was postponed,” he said.

San Diego said the old MAV rules are still in effect as the Bureau of Animal Industry, an agency attached under the DA, issued import permits in recent months.

The Ubra chief said it is possible that the new MAV rules may no longer be implemented this year.

The MAV refers to the minimum volume for specific agricultural products that members of the World Trade Organization have agreed to allow entry to their respective countries at lower-than-regular tariff rates.

For this year, the MAV allowed by the Philippine government for chicken is 23 million kilograms or 23,000 metric tons (MT).

Earlier, the DA said the review of the MAV rules on chicken imports was undertaken to make it “more responsive to the demands of the market.”

The Philippines produces about 643,000 MT, with imports accounting for only about 5 percent of domestic demand, or about 33,633 MT.

PROJECT delays have caused a drop in the funds disbursed by funding agencies for government projects under official development assistance (ODA) from January to December last year, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

POULTRY raisers are still awaiting the release of the new rules covering the importation of chicken under the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme.

TO boost tourism even in secluded corners of the country, the government is now dangling full incentives to hotel accommodations to be put up in far-flung areas that are frequented by tourists no matter how small they are.

SORSOGON CITY—Behind the picturesque scenery of the coastal municipality of Donsol, Sorsogon, that has captured international attention owing to the name it has earned as the “Whale Shark Capital of the World” is a grim picture of poverty, statistics show.

SEAWEED processors belonging to the Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines (SIAP) are urging the Philippine government, particularly the Department of Agriculture (DA), to lobby for the inclusion of carageenan in the generalized system of preferences (GSP) program of the US government.

VIRAC, Catanduanes—At least three mini hydro- electric power plants are being developed here to become a source of power supply on this 11-town island province.