Proposed changes in import quotas seen to disrupt pork, poultry supply

December 8, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Local meat importers and traders are raising concerns that the government’s plan to reshuffle pork and poultry import quotas could unsettle supply and push up prices in the local market.

The Meat Importers and Traders Association (MITA) has criticized the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) proposed import quota reset, saying it would be unfair to long-standing licensees and create uncertainty in the market.

“The abruptness of this announcement has caught licensees entirely by surprise. Orders have already been placed and buying decisions finalized,” the group said in a letter to Agriculture Undersecretary Roger Navarro.

“These sudden shifts have created substantial uncertainty, as imports may now fall under out-quota rates, significantly affecting landed costs and contractual commitments,” it added.

The proposal would reportedly allocate 50 percent of quotas to processors, 30 percent to state-owned enterprises and 20 percent to others.

MITA said reallocating existing volumes would not address the country’s pork supply problem since total import volume would remain unchanged.

The group also questioned the need to allocate quotas to state-owned enterprises, saying these entities are already able to import duty-free.

Additionally, MITA said pork production has dropped back to 1994 levels due to African swine fever, even as the Philippine population has doubled over the same period.

It said that pork production stood at roughly one million tons in 1994 and peaked at 1.9 million tons in 2019.

The group also said the hog industry took 25 years to grow output by 900,000 tons and warned that recovery would not happen within the remaining years of the current administration.

Earlier this year, MITA recommended increasing the pork MAV by 500,000 metric tons to offset production losses.

The MAV Advisory Council later proposed an initial MAV Plus volume of 250,000 tons until 2028 but neither recommendation has been acted upon.

Instead of revising the MAV guidelines, the group urged the DA to retain the current rules and invoke the MAV Plus for both pork and poultry.

It also called on the DA to observe due process and refer the proposed changes to the MAV Advisory Council for formal deliberation.