The Department of Agriculture has tightened its oversight of supermarkets and wet markets nationwide to prevent the mislabeling of frozen meat, as the agency seeks to address market distortions affecting both consumers and local hog raisers.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. directed the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service, Bureau of Animal Industry, and National Meat Inspection Service to conduct inspections to ensure retailers comply with storage and labeling rules that distinguish frozen products from fresh cuts.
“Frozen meat must be properly labeled and stored. Retailers cannot pass off frozen products as fresh. Food safety and fair trade are non-negotiable,” Tiu Laurel said.
The DA’s move comes amid falling farmgate prices of live hogs and sustained high retail prices of pork. Hog farmers have reported losses with rates ranging from 150 to 180 pesos per kilo, prompting the agency and industry groups to agree on a minimum farmgate price of 210 pesos per kilo.
Tiu Laurel said consumers continue to pay high prices, with liempo averaging about 400 pesos per kilo. He said the agency is studying the reintroduction of a maximum suggested retail price on pork to address the gap.
“Farmgate prices have dropped sharply, yet consumers haven’t felt any relief. This imbalance needs to be addressed,” he said.
Industry groups, including the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura, National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc., and Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines, renewed their call to restore pork import tariffs to 40 percent from 25 percent under Executive Order 62. They said lower tariffs have encouraged over importation and undermined local producers.
The DA is also preparing an administrative circular that will reclassify pork jowls, currently treated as offal and taxed lower, to apply a higher tariff due to rising demand from processors and restaurants.
According to the agency, the tightened monitoring, tariff review, and pricing interventions are meant to bring transparency to the meat market and support hog raisers struggling with volatile prices.
