Abono party-list seeks hike in pork offal tariff

ROSALES, Pangasinan, Philippines  – A party-list group has called on the Philippine Tariff Commission to raise the tariff of pork offal to ensure the survival of around three million backyard hog raisers nationwide. 

Rosendo So, chairman of Abono party-list, in a letter to PTC chairman Edgardo Abon said the closure of 20 percent of backyard piggeries is due to the very low tariff on fresh/chilled offal of swine at seven percent; frozen livers of swine at five percent; other frozen pork offal at 10 percent; and pig fat free of lean meat and poultry fat, extracted, fresh, chilled, frozen, salted, in brine, dried or smoked at five percent compared to the 40 percent tariff on pork choice cuts. 

So said meat importers took advantage of the tariff differential by declaring choice cuts as offal to evade paying higher import duties.

 Offal entrails are imported as raw materials for meat processing but are predominantly found in wet markets in the country with lower price giving undue competition to those produced by backyard piggeries, he said.