Proposed 3% fee on fishery exports opposed

Fishery exporters are up in arms over the proposed 3-percent export fee on the gross value of fishery products to be shipped to foreign markets.

Stakeholders said this contradicted the government’s trade promotion policy and could cripple exports of all fishery products, including farmed fish.

“The 3 percent of gross is very high. It will set back investment promotion,” Rolando Dy, an economist with the University of Asia and the Pacific, said via e-mail.

There could be a severe increase in the cost of end products because of the fee and many businesses may have to shut down operations, fishery exporters said.

Asis Perez, the newly appointed director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), has announced that he would impose an export fee of 3 percent on the gross value of all exports of fish and aquatic flora and fauna. These include frozen and canned tuna, octopus, squid, anchovies and sardines to farmed species such as bangus.

Francisco Buencamino, executive director of the Tuna Canners Association of the Philippines, said exporters could lose about P100 million due to decline in production as many would not be able to cope with the higher cost in a business with already small margins.