Philippines weighs 60-day pause on import clearances for pork cuts
The proposed restriction could legally begin by mid-November, as agriculture officials investigate whether rising imports threaten local producers.
The Philippines is considering a 60-day halt to issuing sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSICs) for selected pork cuts, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said on October 21. The proposed pause would apply to liempo, kasim and pigue.
Tiu Laurel told GMA News Online that the restriction could legally be imposed by mid-November. The Department of Agriculture has begun a preliminary safeguard investigation following evidence that higher imports may pose a threat to domestic producers.
In an October 19 letter to Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro, Tiu Laurel said the department had found sufficient initial evidence to open the inquiry. It will examine whether producers face serious injury or the threat of it, and whether any such harm is linked to increased imports.
The inquiry covers fresh, chilled and frozen pork, along with offals and fats, within specified ASEAN Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature classifications. In a separate interview, Tiu Laurel said the country had 170 days of pork supply and that adequate stocks made price increases unlikely ahead of Christmas.
