14 Jul 2025
Poultry industry to benefit from realignment of tariff revenues
Redirecting import duties towards the development of local agricultural sectors like the poultry could spark vital reforms, disease resilience, and sustainable growth.
The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc (PCAFI) is asking the government to overhaul its tariff revenue allocation, pushing for revenues from agricultural imports to be reinvestment directly into their local counterparts.
Poultry has been identified as a critical sector in need of targeted funding and policy reforms.
Funding mechanisms
PCAFI suggests establishing commodity-specific enhancement mechanisms to reinvest tariff revenues into underfunded industries that are traditionally sustained by private sector efforts and often overlooked in public investment strategies.
The termination of the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund in December 2022 diverted crucial resources into the general fund. This left sectors like poultry and livestock without dedicated support despite ongoing import competition.
To remedy this, PCAFI is urging lawmakers to pass the Animal Industry Development and Competitiveness Act. The bill seeks to establish a USD 354 million fund to modernize poultry, livestock, dairy, and corn production.
The proposal emphasizes poultry’s growing role in domestic proteins, especially after persistent challenges like avian influenza and disrupted supply chains.
A pointless MAV
PCAFI also calls for the abolitions of the outdated Minimum Access Volume (MAV) system for chicken, pork, and corn imports.
With current poultry imports exceeding MAV quotas by over 15-fold, PCAFI contends the system no longer reflects market realities nor safeguards local producers.
“Clearly, there is no need further reassure our trading partners about the entry of their poultry products by having an MAV,” PCAFI President Danilo Fausto noted.
Reinforcing biosecurity, improving nutrition
To reinforce biosecurity, PCAFI highlights the urgency of establishing a national virology center capable of producing vaccines for diseases like avian influenza and African Swine Fever.
This initiative would help the animal protein sector to withstand epidemiological threats and reduce dependency on foreign interventions.
PCAFI also urges amendments to the Livestock and Poultry Feeds Act. Enacted nearly 70 years ago, the law lacks provisions for modern feed formulations and emerging segments like aquaculture and pet nutrition. Updating this law would align with today’s feed practices, such as the use of balanced amino acids instead of crude protein metrics.
Finally, PCAFI calls for more direct support for farm laborers, including poultry workers, to build a fairer, more resilient agri-food system.
