The government is likely to remove import restrictions to entice traders to bring in additional shipments of cheaper chicken, as a shortage in poultry supply looms due to the bird-flu outbreak, according to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol.
Piñol said the special importation of chicken is one of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) options in dealing with the aftermath of the discovery of the bird-flu outbreak in San Luis, Pampanga.
“We’re thinking of [special importation]. There’s no problem with that. The moment we learn that we are really short in supply, we will import, including live chicks and eggs,” he told the BusinessMirror.
Piñol made an assurance that the Philippines would buy from bird flu-free countries should the government decide to allow the special importation.
The DA chief made the statement after he revealed that the number of birds to be culled would increase to 600,000, from the original estimate of 200,000.
The figure went up, he said, because some 30 farms within the 7-kilometer radius of ground zero of the outbreak volunteered to sacrifice some 400,000 birds to prevent more losses.
“The offer to depopulate came from the farmers themselves. Because even if they are outside the 1-km contained area, they find it hard to sell their produce. Also, they cannot ship their products outside the 7-km radius,” he said.
“If culling their birds would contain the spread of the virus, they said they are willing to make a sacrifice. So rather than continuously feeding their flocks and earn nothing, they just opted to depopulate,” Piñol added.
Because of this, the DA chief did not discount the possibility of a shortage in poultry products in Luzon.
“Earlier I called on producers in the Visayas and Mindanao to hike their production,” he said. “We are expecting a shortage in Luzon in the coming ‘ber’ months due to the bird-flu incident.”
The last time the DA allowed the special importation of chicken was in 2014, when traders were given the go signal to bring in 5 million kilograms of chicken sans the special safeguard (SSG) duties. Additional tariffs and restrictions are slapped on imported chicken that would come in at less than the trigger price of P93.9 per kilogram.
The government authorized the special importation of chicken in 2014 to stabilize supply and prices during the holidays.
Under Republic Act 8800, which allows SSG on imports, only those brought in within the minimum access volume (MAV) are exempted from it.
However, the law also stipulates that it is the discretion of the department secretary if he would suspend the SSG for imports outside MAV or for special importations.
‘Premature’
United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra) President Elias Jose Inciong said it is premature to talk about importing as the country currently enjoys a high chicken inventory.
“It has only been five days since [the outbreak was announced]. Currently, the problem is oversupply of chicken. To talk about shortage and special importation is not appropriate at this time as it could worsen the misery of growers who are suffering losses,” Inciong told the BusinessMirror.
“The DA secretary can have a dialogue with the sector because, right now, it doesn’t make sense to talk about shortage if there’s no demand. Local chicken in cold storages will serve as buffer,” he added.
Based on reports from Ubra members, Inciong said sales of chicken in Central Luzon have gone down by as much as 80 percent.
Inciong said it will also be more costly if poultry products, particularly poultry meat, will be sourced from the Visayas and Mindanao. He added that these regions produce chicken meat at a higher cost compared to those in Luzon.
For this year, 124 private firms were allowed by the government to import 54,210 metric tons (MT) of frozen-poultry meat under MAV. The figure is lower than the 141 that were granted licenses last year.
Some of the firms allowed to import under the 2017 MAV for frozen-poultry meat are Delichicken Corp., Virginia Foods Inc., The Purefoods-Hormel Co. Inc., Puregold Price Club Inc. and Rustans Supercenters Inc. Manila currently imposes a 40-percent tariff on poultry-meat imports.
Government aid
Given the increase in the number of birds to be culled, Piñol estimated that the DA would need some P52.8 million to compensate all the affected poultry growers.
“This is a welcome development for us because according to our experts if we would also depopulate the farms within the 7-km radius then it would serve as a buffer zone to our ground zero,” Piñol said. “If the periphery of the area is clean and cleared, then the chances of the virus spreading outside the area will actually be reduced.”
The DA chief said he would seek P100 million from President Duterte to compensate growers, pay laborers and for other expenses that may be incurred by the department in the clearing process.
“I have a meeting with President Duterte and I will ask him to immediately release calamity funds,” Piñol said.
“The total computation for the compensation of the 600,000 birds does not include the income loss of farm workers who will not have a job in the next three months,” he added. On top of the compensation, Piñol said they are also planning to roll out other livelihood programs, which could be funded by the DA, such as planting rice to help the affected farmers.
Piñol said he has also sought help from the Philippine Army, Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philipine National Police (PNP), to fast-track the culling of fowls.
He said PNP Chief Ronald M. dela Rosa has promised to provide men to aid in the DA’s operations.
Also, Philippine Army Commanding Officer Rodel Alarcon has committed to send at least 300 people in San Luis to hasten the culling of birds.
With the additional manpower from various government agencies, Pinol said he expects the culling of 400,000 birds to be done by August 19. As of Wednesday, the DA chief said they have culled 73,110 birds, which include layers, ducks, fighting cocks and native chickens.
Piñol said the department has opted to burn the dead birds instead of continuing with the current cull-and-bury procedure to fast-track the depopulation of farms.
“While we would like to conform to the Clean Air Act, some farms are near wetlands. Our veterinarians said it will be more dangerous to bury the chickens, presumably with bird flu, near those areas,” he said. Piñol added he would formally ask Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu to allow the DA to incinerate the dead fowls.
1 comment
No need for imports., fewer people are buying anyway.