PH will no longer import for the rest of 2018 – Piñol
Except for rice, the Philippines will no longer import agricultural goods in the remaining weeks of the year as both supply and prices of basic commodities continue to stabilize, according to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol.
In an interview, Piñol said the Department of Agriculture (DA) was not seeing the need for the country to import amid stabilized prices of goods, particularly rice, chicken and vegetables, in markets nationwide.
“As of the moment, we really don’t feel the need to import. We have stable supply of chicken and pork in our markets, and prices of rice and vegetables have really gone down. For rice, we’re just still waiting for our year-end imports to arrive starting December 15,” Piñol said.
His statement came despite the fact that multiple holidays and festivities during the so-called “-ber”months usually cause the tight supply of several goods in the market.
September, October, November and December have always been a period when supplies of agricultural commodities contract and prices of goods increase due to the festive season. Pork products, particularly ham, are among the most consumed in the period.
To recall, Piñol in early August said the DA was planning to import up to 10,000 metric tons (MT) of pork to supply the local market with more stocks in preparation for the onset of the “-ber” months.
But since sky-high prices of rice and vegetable have already been addressed, Piñol said the country would not be importing for the rest of 2018.
The agriculture chief attributed the stable settings of basic goods on the arrival of galunggong (round scad) imports as well as the facilitation of DA’s TienDA ‘Malasakit’ Food Outlets selling agricultural products at farmgate prices in many regions in the country.
Of the 17,000 MT galunggong imports scheduled to arrive in the country until end-December, 14,000 MT have already been shipped in the start of November, according to latest update from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
Piñol said the nationwide implementation of suggested retail prices (SRP) on rice, and several fish species and vegetables had helped ease prices of goods.
Included in the SRP are milkfish or bangus (P150 per kilogram), tilapia (P100/kg), galunggong (P140/kg), red onion (P95/kg), white onion (P75/kg), imported garlic (P70/kg) and local garlic (P120/kg).
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