i TV Pinoy

Source: gmanews.tv

-- A day after assuring the public that supply of pork is enough for the Christmas season, agriculture officials admitted Thursday they are bracing for a possible spike in prices of the commodity.

In a radio interview, Agriculture assistant secretary Salvador Salacup said that prices may spike if some 15,000 tons of pork from other countries do not come in on time.

"If the imports do not come in we expect basic laws of supply and demand (to apply)," Salacup said in an interview on dwIZ radio.

But he declined to give figures on how high the prices may go, pointing out that price controls are still in effect over Luzon.

The price controls will stay at least until the National Price Coordinating Council meets this coming Monday, he said.

"We are under automatic price ceiling environment. The price ceiling of P160 to P170 per kilo of pork cuts still holds," he said.




Salacup said the government is allowing the importation of pork to make up for a projected supply shortage of the commodity, which is in high demand during the Christmas season.

He said the importation will only be during the peak demand period during December, but the importation should stop on December 23 so the supplies can run out by December 31.

“As early as the first quarter and second quarters of 2010, kailangan domestic producers na ang panggagalingan at ‘di ang imports (As early as the first and second quarters of 2010 we want only domestic producers to supply pork)," he said.

Chicken as alternative

Salacup also said they are looking into “alternatives" to pork such as chicken.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has placed Luzon under a state of calamity in the wake of the destruction caused by tropical cyclones Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma).

Salacup admitted the “sourcing out" of pork from Visayas and Mindanao may not be enough to meet demand.

He said the Agriculture Department is enjoining private sector players to import pork, noting government has an annual quota for bringing in pork with tax privileges.

Of the year’s quota of 54,000 metric tons, he said importers can still bring in up to 17,000 metric tons.

“But on top of that we’re still encouraging another 5,000 metric tons na pumasok just to buffer that supply and we’re providing tax incentives para ipasok ng mas mura at maging competitive din (On top of that we are still encouraging another 5,000 metric tons to come in, just to buffer that supply. We are providing tax incentives to make sure prices of pork are competitive)," he said.

Salacup said the government may not import a large volume of pork, saying it does not have the resources to do so.

“Let the private sector handle that, that’s the basic principle here. We want this to, at least, meet the high demand during the holidays," he said.

Also, Salacup said the DA is monitoring closely the prices of other options like chicken.

Special privileges

He said government will allow the private sector to bring in 5,000 metric tons of chicken with “special privileges" on some tariff fees, on the request of chicken producers.

Salacup said they talked to the chicken producers Wednesday to determine the extent of damage to their industry caused by tropical cyclone Santi (Mirinae), which lashed Southern Luzon.

The Southern Luzon region is a major producer of chicken, he said.

“They are contemplating adding another 3,000 metric tons under special privilege importation," Salacup added.

He said the government is considering importing chicken from the United States and Canada, and pork from the US, Canada and Brazil.

“For Asian countries we’re looking at Korea (and if) Japan is able to provide it," he said.

Meanwhile, Salacup said prices of other commodities such as fish, including bangus (milkfish) and tilapia, remain stable.