The Philippine Association of Feed Millers (PAFMI) renewed its call for the standardization of corn tariffs to help strengthen local production of agricultural products like meat, eggs and fish.
Agricultural groups earlier filed a petition asking President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to reject amendments to an executive order that will further lower tariffs on rice, pork, corn, and chicken.
PAFMI is pushing for a 5% standard tariff on yellow corn.
PAFMI president Edwin Mapanao said corn plays a vital role in ensuring that local livestock farms and even fisheries are able to give the best quality feeds to their animals.
“We are committed to supporting the current administration in its efforts to ensure that the community has access to high-quality food at accessible prices. We are one with President Bongbong Marcos as he works to address the increasing prices of goods, all while prioritizing the stability of livelihoods for the Filipino people,” he said.
Government data showed that corn production in the country is still insufficient with just over 7 million metric tons (MT) produced annually. Of this figure, 84 percent of yellow corn production goes to the animal industry as feeds for livestock and chicken and the balance is used as food for humans.
The National Corn Program (NCP) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said demand for yellow corn is estimated at nearly 9.5 million MT.
The Philippines continues to be a net importer of corn since the local sufficiency level has not improved from 64%. Importation is essential to plug the gap for the feed milling industry to produce feeds for animals.
While different agricultural groups have raised concerns that tariff reduction for rice, meat, poultry, and corn will negatively impact farm gate prices with imports flooding the local market, PAFMI said implementing the 5% standard tariff on yellow corn may help strengthen local production of major agricultural products like meat, eggs and fish.
In 2022, the government dropped the most favored nation (MFN) tariffs on corn to 5% from 35%, in-quota, and 15% out-quota, since the difficulties of sourcing raw materials for feeds production contribute to rising inflation. The Philippines source a great deal of raw materials for feed milling from Russia.
Feeds accounts for more than 50% of the total production cost of large-scale broiler and swine farms while corn comprise about half of the raw materials for feed milling.
“With corn as the most preferred feed energy source, it is crucial that we ensure that the demands of the industry are met so we can produce quality meat, poultry, and eggs for Filipino consumers at affordable prices. One of the ways we can achieve this is by keeping the tariffs low and allowing importers to help fill our supply gaps,” Mapanao said.
According to PAFMI, a staple and affordable corn price will help the food value chain grow more sustainably and the reduction of tariffs will not have any adverse effects on local corn farmers since as long as the quality of domestically produced yellow corn adheres to the prescribed standards, feed millers will continue to prioritize locally sourced produce.