Hog raisers ask DA to allow duty-free corn importation

The country’s hog raisers and feedmillers are asking the Department of Agriculture (DA) to allow them to import 300,000 metric tons (MT) of duty-free corn this year.

The proposed imports should partially address the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics’ (BAS) projected corn production shortfall of 2.071 million MT for this year, which is higher than last year’s deficit of 1.405 million MT.

In yesterday’s meeting with DA officials, the Philippine Association of Feedmillers Inc. (PAFMI) said the corn imports should come in two tranches.

PAFMI vice-president Ric Pinca said the first tranche of 150,000 MT should be at zero tariff to allow end-users to buy the commodity at affordable prices.

"We need the corn immediately to keep our production costs stable," said Pinca.

PAFMI members which include the likes of General Milling Co., San Miguel Foods Inc. and Swift Foods Inc. agreed to pay a minimum 10-percent duty for the second tranche of 150,000 MT.

"We wanted to import the second installment duty-free but with the current budget deficit of the government, we are willing to pay a 10-percent duty," said Pinca.

PAFMI warned that if the planned importation is disapproved, the costs of producing pork and meat products will soar.

The volume should offset the failed import program for 150,000 MT of corn bid out by government last September to make up for the estimated damage of 300,000 MT of corn wrought by Typhoon Harurot which hit key corn-growing areas of the country in July 2003.

The program did not spark feed millers‚ interest because the 20-percent-tariff equivalent charge imposed by the National Food Authority then made the import offer too expensive to bring the commodity in.

This failure eventually led to the rise in local buying prices of yellow corn. While it benefited corn farmers in Mindanao and Cagayan Valley, it adversely affected earnings of not only feed millers but also poultry and livestock producers.