The Department of Agriculture (DA) assured consumers on Wednesday that markets will have enough pork for the Christmas season, even with a temporary ban on pork imports from Spain following an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak.
DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for imported pork is expected to be released this Friday. Earlier proposals set a P210-per-kilo floor price for live hogs, P370 per kilo for imported liempo, and P340 per kilo for imported kasim and pigue, although the final figures may still change.
The DA import ban covers all pork produced in Spain after November 11 and will remain in place until Spain is declared ASF-free. Tiu Laurel emphasized that the ban will not affect supply, noting that the country’s cold storage facilities are currently well-stocked with pork.
Spain accounted for 20.7 percent of the Philippines’ pork imports from January to September, supplying 131 million of the 633 million kilos imported during the period. Despite this, industry groups expect the supply to remain stable. Jess Cham, president emeritus of the Meat Importers and Traders Association, said they had long urged the DA to follow international guidelines and restrict imports only from affected regions instead of imposing a nationwide ban.
Meanwhile, Jet Ambalada, director of the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc., said the impact of the ban will be minimal because other suppliers such as Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom can make up the difference.
He noted that most import orders for the holiday season have already arrived.
Based on DA monitoring as of December 1, pork prices in Metro Manila markets range from P270 to P390 per kilo for pork ham, P320 to P470 per kilo for pork belly, P210 to P300 per kilo for frozen kasim, and P290 to P350 per kilo for frozen liempo.
