October 10, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is set to impose special safeguard duties (SSG) on four imported agricultural products that were not covered previously by the trade measure, such as pork hams and roasted coffee bean varieties, to protect domestic producers.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. is asking Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio through Finance Secretary Ralph Recto to impose and continue imposing price-based SSG on various eligible imported agricultural products.
Tiu Laurel issued Department Order (DO) 20 to formalize his request, pursuant to the pertinent provisions of Republic Act 8800 or the Safeguard Measures Act that empowers the agriculture chief to impose SSG on imported commodities.
Under the order, the agriculture chief requested the imposition of price-based SSG on pork shoulder and ham, unground roasted coffee other than Arabica and Robusta varieties, sausages and similar products based on meat offal and other preserved and prepared chicken meat offal and blood other than chicken curry in airtight containers for retail sale.
Tiu Laurel also sought the continued imposition of price-based SSG on other eligible agricultural imports such as instant coffee, meat of bovine animals and chicken wings.
The order took effect immediately and will remain in force until revoked in writing, according to DO 20.
The imposition and continued imposition of SSG on new and existing eligible products are meant to protect local industries from low-priced imports, Agriculture Assistant Secretary and spokesman Arnel de Mesa said.
SSG is a trade measure that allows the government to slap and collect additional duties on eligible imported goods whose costs fall below an established trigger price, to temper the possible harm that it could cause to local industries.
Under the law, all SSG collected by the government shall be used to enhance the competitiveness of domestic industries affected by imports, known as the Competitiveness Enhancement Measures Fund.
The CEMF consists of 50 percent of the total fees, charges and safeguard duties collected by the government from imported products.
It was created 24 years ago, but the Departments of Agriculture and Trade and Industry issued the joint implementing rules and regulations only last year.
Government budget documents showed that the CEMF reached P3.34 billion at the end of 2022. This year, the DA is spending P250 million from the CEMF.
Agriculture industry stakeholders estimate that the bulk of the CEMF came from poultry and coffee imports.
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