Group urges government to extend duty-free importation of wheat

MANILA, Philippines - The Agricultural Alliance which is composed of the Philippine Association of Feedmillers Inc. (PAFMI), the National Federation of Egg Producers of the Philippines Inc. (NFEPP), the United Broilers Raisers Association (UBRA), and the National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc. (NFHFI), appealed to President Arroyo yesterday to extend for another six months the duty-free importation of feed wheat used in producing animal feeds.

In a press conference, the different members of Agricultural Alliance explained that Executive Order 765, issued by President Arroyo, effectively reduced the cost of imported feed wheat which has allowed the feed milling sector as well as the poultry, egg and hog sectors, to survive what has been increasingly a difficult market.

The feed milling industry pointed out that following the implementation of EO 765, the cost of its feed ingredients was reduced, allowing local feed millers to stabilize their prices and keep the prices of meat and poultry products stable.

For the hog sector, low cost feed ingredients allowed swine raisers to be competitive.

However, they warned, with the expiration of EO 765, the price of various raw materials may once again increase, adding to the cost of hog production which would translate to higher prices of meat products.

The poultry sector, similar to the position of the hog sector, agreed that without the zero tariff provided by EO 765, the restored tariff of seven percent would raise feed ingredients and thus, production cost which, in turn, could translate to higher chicken prices for the consumers.

Contracted feed wheat imports for this year is around 1.1 million metric tons.

Unfortunately, while the Agricultural Alliance wants another six month extension of the duty-free importation of feed wheat under EO 765, the corn sector is opposing the extension on the ground that feed wheat imports replaces the demand for domestic corn.