The Philippines’ government has moved one step closer to expanding the quota for pork imports, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) reported Friday.  

Specifically, NPPC said the government is proposing to raise the minimum access volume (MAV) to 400,000 metric tons (MT) to address shortages and higher prices for the preferred protein.

“The current MAV is 54,000 MT, and the country’s initial proposal increased the figure to 164,000 MT. The proposal will need to be approved by the MAV Management Committee before it is submitted to President Duterte for approval,” NPPC relayed.

From there, the proposal would need to be ratified by Congress.

The latest proposal comes on the heels of NPPC’s recent meeting with the Philippines Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Romualdez.

“NPPC has been working with the Philippines’ government for more than a year to negotiate an expansion of the quota and lower pork import tariffs. NPPC welcomes the government’s proposal, as the Philippines holds tremendous market opportunities for U.S. pork exports.”

The U.S. Meat Export Federation recently relayed that the U.S. was the only major pork supplier to post an increase in exports to the Philippines in 2020. Despite a slow start to the year, exports to the Philippines in 2020 were 15% higher in volume (46,665 mt) and jumped 24% in value ($115 million), finishing just short of the record levels of 2018.