Broiler group seeks scrapping of MAV on pork, chicken imports

MANILA, Philippines —The United Broiler Raisers Association (UBRA) is urging government to scrap the minimum access volume (MAV) for chicken and pork as exporting countries no longer need any assurance due to already low originating prices of agricultural products.

In a letter to Senate committee on agriculture chair Sen. Cynthia Villar, UBRA expressed support for Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s recent resolution to look into the implementation of the MAV for pork and chicken.

“We support the resolution’s thrust to inquire into alleged anomalies in the implementation of our MAV commitments in the World Trade Organization,” UBRA said.

“However, we seek not to reform but rather abolish it,” the group added.

The MAV or tariff rate quota is a privilege enjoyed by importers under the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA). It is a concession granted by the Philippines to the members of the WTO, assuring agricultural exporters that there is a minimum volume which they can export to a particular country at a lower tariff rate.

Citing 2020 importation data, UBRA stressed that total chicken imports was already 17 times the MAV for chicken of 24.49 million kilos as it reached 402.7 million kilos.

In addition, total pork importation was five times the MAV of 56 million kilos at 256 million kilos.

“It is obvious that the exporting countries no longer have any need of assurance as the prices of these products are very low originating as they are from countries with heavily subsidized agricultural systems,” UBRA said.

UBRA emphasized that there is certainly no need for a MAV for chicken as under the schedule of commitments in the AOA, the tariff rate became equal at 40 percent for inside and outside MAV in 2005.

“By definition, therefore, there is no longer a MAV for chicken. It is just there at the insistence of the Department of Agriculture (DA),” UBRA said.

“The fastest way to get rid of corruption, therefore, is to abolish the MAV for chicken and pork as it should no longer exist in the first place,” UBRA said.