Business managers seek lower tariff rate for food, agri products

By Othel V. Campos

ORGANIZED business managers are calling on the national government to create a tariff regime that supports food security for Filipinos and strengthens sustainable agri-food value chains.

The proposed that the setup should be neutral across industries and reduces incentives and opportunities for corruption and smuggling by unifying Minimum Access Volume (MAV) and nonMAV tariff rates.

Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) president Benedicta Du-Baludad echoed the business community’s sentiment for accessibility and affordability of competitively priced food through low tariffs on food products in light of the impending review and reform of the current tariff struc- ture by the Tariff Commission (TC) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

“The removal of existing peaks and achieving low uniform rates in a tariff structure that provides equal incentives across domestic industries will encourage more and wider agricultural processing and value-adding, help control inflation, and enhance the country’s food security. We urge the TC and NEDA to move the Philippine economy in this direction,” the MAP said in a statement.