Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda seeks an end to the rampant palm oil smuggling in order to revive the moribund coconut industry.
Salceda said equal treatment for feedstock palm oil and palm oil for human consumption can be a “lifeline for coconut farmers”
Salceda, chair of the Committee on Ways and Means, said the policy of differentiating palm oil fit for inputs to animal feeds, and palm oil fit for human consumption should be junked to avoid technical smuggling, which he said could involve as much as P300 billion annually.
The tariff for palm oil fit for animal feed is zero, while palm oil for human consumption is levied a 15 percent. This difference, according to the Department of Agriculture, was being exploited by smugglers, who declare the goods as unfit for human consumption.
“Why discriminate anyway. Let’s just equalize the tariffs, regardless of grade, since low-grade palm oil will probably be much cheaper anyway. That way, we don’t have room for technical smuggling,” Salceda said.
“That could also encourage those in the livestock sector to opt for coconut oil instead, which would be a boon for local coconut farmers,” he added.
According to Salceda, making the coconut sector competitive “is both a national priority and, frankly, one of the easier big goals for Philippine agriculture.”
“There are 3.5 million coconut farmers in the country. We also have a new source of funding for coconut industry development, through the Coco Levy Trust Fund Act. So, it makes sense to encourage people to shift to coconut oil, while closing the palm oil smuggling route,” Salceda said.
Salceda said a coconut-producing province, says that closing the technical smuggling loophole could also “be a lifeline for local coconut farmers.”