HOG raisers, particularly in Luzon, are asking the government to allow them to import equipment used in production at zero duty to help them become competitive in view of increasing production costs and the losses they incurred due to various diseases that hit the industry last year.

Officials of the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI) and the Bulacan Hog Farmers Association (BHFA) also appealed to the government to upgrade diagnostic laboratories that will enable growers to immediately determine the strains of diseases that will hit hogs.

“We will request the government to allow us to import equipment used for piggery production at zero duty,” NFHFI chairman and BHFA president Gabriel Uy told reporters in a press briefing in Quezon City on Monday.

NFHFI officials note that tariffs slapped on equipment used by commercial raisers for hog production like silos, plastic flooring and ventilation control can range from 3 percent to 30 percent. The equipment are usually shipped from the United States, Canada and Europe.

Renato Eleria, vice chairman of the NFHFI, said the tariffs tend to make the cost of the equipment quite prohibitive.

“When the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act was first enacted, there was a provision that allowed us to import equipment at zero duty. But this provision was struck down by the implementing rules and regulations,” said Eleria.

Currently, hog raisers are reeling from the continuous increase in the prices of various raw materials used for making feeds like soya, corn and crude coconut oil.

Uy noted that soya, which used to sell at P18 per kilogram a month ago, now sells at P28.50, and NFHFI officials say it is likely that it would become more expensive in the coming months. The price of crude coconut oil, meanwhile, almost doubled at P75 per kilo from P45 a kilo a month ago.

Earlier, hog raisers and feed millers asked the government to allow the duty-free importation of corn and alternatives to it such as soya and cassava. The NFHFI said the Tariff Commission has yet to schedule a hearing on this proposal.

Aside from the duty-free importation of equipment and other inputs, hog raisers in Luzon are appealing to the government to upgrade their diagnostic laboratories.

Uy disclosed that last year, the private sector was forced to spend P450,000 to buy antigens that would allow them to identify the strains of diseases that hit hogs in the region.

“The diagnostic laboratories were not equipped with the latest facilities that would have allowed us to identify the strains of the diseases. Para kaming nakalutang,” he said.

Various diseases that hit the industry last year caused the death of thousands of sows. Uy estimates that in Central Luzon alone, 60,000 sows were lost due to diseases.

The NFHFI estimates that at least 30 percent of backyard raisers in Luzon went out of operation when the diseases struck, causing a shortage of pork in the region.

Officials of the NFHFI, however, are confident   production will normalize by the last quarter of this year.

Uy said the concerns of the industry will be discussed in the 17th National Hog Farmers Convention which will be held in Subic on July 3 and 4.

Hog raisers seek duty-free importation of equipment, upgrade of diagnostic labs

HOG raisers, particularly in Luzon, are asking the government to allow them to import equipment used in production at zero duty to help them become competitive in view of increasing production costs and the losses they incurred due to various diseases that hit the industry last year.

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