Editorial - Let free market forces rule the meat industry

It is understandable for local meat dealers to clamor for a ban on imported meat. Because imported meat is cheaper, it is only natural for consumers to prefer it over local meat, which is more expensive, thus threatening to drive them out of business.

But that brings us to the question why. Common sense would have told us that meat that is imported from, say, China, ought to be more expensive than meat coming from, say, your neighbor’s backyard in Guadalupe. So why is meat from Guadalupe more expensive that meat from China?

Unless local meat dealers are first able to convincingly argue that it is in the best interest of consumers to buy the more expensive local meat than the same meat from abroad sold at much cheaper prices, then any clamor for a ban on meat imports is not likely to gain any support.

If local meat dealers were to switch roles with consumers, they probably would do the exact same thing these consumers are doing right now, which is to make a beeline for the cheaper imported meat.

Let’s face it. When consumers buy meat, they do not do so with the stability of the local meat business in mind. For as long as the safety of the product they are buying is assured, they will always go for the cheaper meat. That is simple common economic sense.

But government meat safety inspectors have time and again assured the integrity of the imported meat. No evidence or argument has so far surfaced to prove otherwise. Given such facts, it comes as no surprise that public preference for imported meat will continue.

So, if some fault has to be laid somewhere, certainly it cannot be laid at the doorstep of the meat importers. Like the locals, they too are only trying to do business. And for as long as that business is safe and legitimate, why fault them if they are doing quite well in it.

It does not take much intelligence to know the answer to this predicament. The only way to compete and contain the inroads being made by importers is to bring down the prices of local meat to competitive levels. That is the way the market works.

Government must act for the greater good. It cannot ban meat imports just to please local meat dealers at the expense of the public’s right to make their own choices in a free market. Any attempt by government to influence free market forces will prove disastrous in the long run.