DTI, DA to impose ‘moving price ceiling’ for chicken
The government wants to put a “moving price ceiling” for chicken, marking one of the few times, if not the first, that price control was sought to curb inflation.
Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez said a limit would be imposed on how far the poultry’s retail price could go from its farmgate price.
In an interview, he said his department would be signing a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Agriculture soon for this proposal.
While finer details are still being fleshed out, he said the gap between farmgate and retail prices should not go beyond P50. He added that they were considering if the ceiling could be updated every three days.
“We agreed although we have not signed anything that we’ll issue a MOA to impose a moving price ceiling. In other words, it will move with the farmgate price,” he said.
In this way, he said the government can at least “control” the factors that play out between the farm gate and the retailer.
The same mechanism might also be applied to pork, although this is still under discussion, according to the trade chief.
Lopez said the government would work with “market masters,” or the people who manage wet markets in the implementation of the MOA.
The measure was proposed despite the government’s aversion towards price control measures, amid a call from a consumer group to do what they could to arrest prices.
Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI), led by former trade Undersecretary Victorio Dimagiba, earlier said a price ceiling should be imposed since businesses would not have the incentive to keep hold of their stocks at this time of the year.
It is not clear if DTI’s MOA with DA was prompted by Laban Konsyumer, who have made similar appeals to the government before.
This develops amid government efforts to curb inflation, which soared last September to its highest in nearly a decade. The prices of basic goods and services were propped up, among other factors, by the high prices of food items and non-alcoholic drinks.
