Agri-alliance urges Philippines president to defer tariff

Alyansa Agrikultura, an alliance of agricultural sector organizations, has asked the Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to push back the proposed 2010 cut in poultry and swine tariffs to 0-5% under the Asean Free Trade Agreement-Common Effective Preferential Tariff agreement, according to a news report. The prevailing poultry and swine tariffs are 40% and 35%, respectively.

“The ASEAN exporters for poultry and swine are likely to target the Philippine market, because the new 0-5% tariffs will render our poultry and swine producers at a great price disadvantage," Alyansa Agrikultura chair Ernesto Ordonez said.

Alyansa statistics show that ASEAN countries export 2.4 million metric tons of chicken annually, and import 404,000 metric tons. For swine, AFTA countries export 570,000 metric tons and import 80,000 metric tons.