Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri on Monday pressed Agriculture Secretary William Dar to do something about the “unabated importation” of pork for local consumption, to the detriment of local producers of pork products.
“Policy-wise, importation should be the last resort of the DA. Take a look at Thailand and Vietnam. Pinagtitibay nila ang local agriculture nila. That is food security,” he said during the Senate committee of the whole hearing.
Dar agreed, saying that under his tenure, the department has been working toward strengthening the local commodity industry.
But progress has been slow because of lack of budget, the official said.
On Monday, the Senate looked into the food security situation brought about by the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak, and its impact on the hog raisers, particularly in light of the recently signed Executive Order 128.
The order reduces pork import tariffs from 40 percent to 5 percent. The move to lower tariff on imports was endorsed by the Department of Agriculture (DA), in aim of addressing the shortage of local pork supply due to the ASF outbreak.
Zubiri exprssed his frustration over the department’s attitude toward importation over the years.
“Apat na administration na po ang napagdaanan ko, at nakita ko po na laging policy ng DA na mag-import. Basta nagka-problema sa presyo, import kaagad ang sagot ng DA,” he said.
“Hindi dapat iyan ang sagot. Dapat ang sagot ng DA, ‘Sandali, dapat tulungan natin ang mga magsasaka natin kaysa mga magsasaka ng ibang bansa.’ The joke among local farmers and cooperatives is that the DA should be renamed as the Department of Importation,” Zubiri said.
Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
No comments:
Post a Comment