Feed millers seek 5% tariff on corn imports

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Association of Feed Millers, Inc. (PAFMI) is urging the government to lower the tariffs on yellow corn imports to five percent in a bid to prevent the increase in prices of animal feeds.

In a statement yesterday, PAFMI said the lowering of tariffs could  be done through the issuance of an executive order (EO).

“A uniform tariff of five percent is expected to immediately create a level playing field for livestock growers, most especially swine raisers adversely affected by the entry into the country of low-price imported pork,” PAFMI said as it emphasized that higher feed prices would result in higher production costs for the livestock sector.

Currently, corn imports are levied 35 percent within Southeast Asia following the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA). Corn imports outside ATIGA are slapped a 50 percent tariff.

PAFMI said the current import tariff structure is bloating the cost of imports to unrealistic levels, triggering increases in the production costs of livestock and poultry raisers which result in uncompetitive prices of local meat products compared to meat imports, which now enjoy lower tariffs.

At the current 50 percent tariff, the landed cost of feed corn imports at average world prices will translate to P30.10 a kilo.

The group stressed that the need to address the tariff issue on feed corn or yellow corn importation has become more urgent due to the damage of the recent severe tropical storm Maring on agriculture.

Latest data from the Department of Agriculture (DA)’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operation Center showed that 8,658 hectares of corn had been affected by Maring, accounting for 6.63 percent of the total damages to agriculture.

This resulted in a volume loss of 8,903 metric tons (MT) valued at P149.6 million.

In a press briefing earlier this week, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the damage of the recent weather disturbance would be considered in its ongoing review on tariffs on corn imports.

Darn said the results of the technical working group’s  review are  expected to come out within the month.

The TWG was created in late July to study possible reforms in the tariffs of imported yellow corn in a bid to provide a lower and steady supply of the commodity to farmers who use it for animal feed.