MANILA, Philippines — Philippine meat importers are pushing back against the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) bid to reclassify frozen pork jowls as swine meat, a move that would raise the tariff on the imported cut to up to 40 percent.
In a June petition to the Tariff Commission, the DA noted that retailers and food service businesses are increasingly using pork jowls, known for sisig, as regular pork cuts in the local market.
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Imports have averaged about 130,000 metric tons annually over the past three years, making pork jowls among the country’s most heavily imported swine products, according to the agriculture department.
It sought to reclassify standalone pork jowls under AHTN Chapter 0203, which covers swine meat, from Chapter 0206, which covers edible offal.
The request included creating a separate tariff line to better track the imports of the cut.
Under its proposal, pork jowls would initially retain the 25-percent tariff imposed on swine meat through 2028 under Executive Order No. 62, before the rate rises to 40 percent thereafter. Offals, by comparison, face only a 5-percent tariff.
The Meat Importers and Traders Association (Mita) argues that the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) case relies on a “flawed premise,” stating that the way people consume pork jowls should not determine their tariff classification.
“Merely because an offal product is edible, high-value, or versatile in culinary applications does not legally transform it into primary meat under Chapter 0203,” Mita president emeritus Jesus Cham said in a Sept. 15 letter to Tariff Commission chair Marilou Mendoza.
The group maintained that jowls are anatomically part of a swine’s head and should therefore remain classified as edible offal, citing World Customs Organization rules and practices in major trading partners such as Canada and the United States.
MITA warned that reclassification could “needlessly inflate raw material costs” for local food processors, restaurants and consumers that rely on imported offal.
It also argued that changing the tariff classification could complicate free trade agreement concessions and force renegotiation of tariff schedules with trading partners.
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Still, the group did not oppose the DA’s proposal to create a separate national tariff line for pork jowls to improve import monitoring.
MITA said such a tariff line should remain under Chapter 0206 as edible offal, keeping its duty rates tied to offal products.
The Tariff Commission will hold a public hearing on the DA petition on Sept. 21. /pai