P-Noy urged to cancel tax perks for Thai agri firm

MANILA, Philippines - Local hog, poultry growers and feeds producers appealed yesterday to President Aquino to order the Trade department to heed the call of lawmakers to suspend the grant of tax incentives to Thai agricultural giant Charoen Pokphand (CP) Foods because it would not be detrimental to the local hog and poultry industry user.

Abono party-list chairman and Swine Development Council (SDC) director Rosendo So warned in a statement that backyard hog and poultry growers and local feed producers would be among the first casualties of the tax incentives extended by the BOI to CP.

“If President Aquino truly serves the interest of the local farmers and growers, in particular, and the country’s food security, in general, it is within his power to immediately rescind the decision of the Board of Investment (BOI) to grant tax perks to CP, a move that is not only grossly disadvantageous to local raisers, but is also a serious national food security concern,” So stressed.

So made the appeal after lawmakers led by Batangas Rep. Mark Llandro L. Mendoza and Butil party-list Rep. Agapito H. Guanlao, chairman of House of Representatives special committees on Agriculture and on Food security, respectively, required BOI to suspend the grant of tax incentives to CP due to serious questions on the propriety and validity of the agency’s decision.

“The BOI should hold in abeyance the tax holidays granted to CP. Otherwise there will be serious consequences.” Guanlao said, noting that local farmers would suffer greatly from the uneven playing field arising from the questionable grant of registration and tax incentives to the Thai food conglomerate.

In fact, So said that even Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, who was not consulted by the BOI in granting the tax exemptions to CP, was lukewarm to the move.

He recalled that former agriculture secretary Arthur Yap had already denied the application of CP during the latter’s term.

So also disclosed that CP also wants to import cooked chicken, citing a document indicating that the Thai company is requesting for inspection for importation of cooked chicken.

According to So, backyard growers who sell their produce directly to wet markets have themselves to blame for not applying for the same incentives extended to CP.

He also questioned how CP, a 100-percent foreign owned food conglomerate from Thailand, was able to acquire more than 100-hectares of agricultural lands when foreigners are prohibited to own land property in the country.