The Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it would implement a suggested retail price (SRP) for imported pork following a two-month price cap on local supply of the meat and chicken in a bid to stabilize the rising prices of basic food items.
Starting April 9, the SRP for imported pork is set at P270/kg of kasim, and P350/kg of liempo, Agriculture Sec. William Dar said. The two-month price ceiling on local pork and chicken, which expires on Thursday, will no longer be extended.
"Our decision was based on consultations with various stakeholders. Further, there is no SRP for local pork," Dar said in an online briefing.
ALSO READ:
How to Bring Pork Prices Down? Gov't Eyes Subsidies for Hog Raisers
2,000 Pigs From Mindanao Shipped to Manila to Help Tame Pork Prices
Retailers who will disobey the SRP can be held liable under the Price Act.
The Department of Trade and Industry said it would help monitor the implementation of the price caps on imported pork in supermarkets.
"Tayo po ay tutulong sa DA sa pag-monitor to properly implement SRP,” Trade Sec. Ramon Lopez said.
Consumers were greeted by rising prices of goods at the start of the year, with a kilo of pork costing as much as P400 in the market as the households grappled with the economic toll brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
ALSO READ:
2,000 Pigs From Mindanao Shipped to Manila to Help Tame Pork Prices
The spike in the prices of basic food items prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to cap the prices of pork and chicken in Metro Manila in February.
The agriculture department, which blamed traders for supposed profiteering, augmented the pork supply in the capital region with hogs from Mindanao and the Southern Tagalog Region.
Dar said deliveries of hogs from other regions to Metro Manila would persist even with the price cap on imported pork.
ALSO READ:
Pork is Expensive, Traders Should Avoid Profiteering: Agri Chief
