Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said he has approved the importation of additional 60,000 metric tons (MT) of small pelagic fishes to plug the shortfall in the country’s fish supply in the first quarter.
Dar disclosed on Tuesday that he made the decision to ensure that the country has sufficient fish supply and prevent rising cost of the protein product, which he noted is the one of the key contributors to nationwide food inflation. He revealed that he signed and issued the certificate of necessity (CNI) of 60,000 MT of small pelagic fishes for first quarter consumption last January 17.
The agriculture chief explained that he approved the additional fish imports despite the recommendation by the multi-sectoral advisory body National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (NFARMC) not to allow additional import volume since the country has “sufficient supply.”
He noted that NFARMC convened last week and made its recommendations accordingly.
Citing estimates made by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Dar pointed out that the country has a “potential” fish supply deficit of about 119,000 MT this first quarter.
Dar emphasized that the NFARMC is just a “recommendatory” body and pointed out that as the agriculture chief he has the responsibility to allow imports or not to ensure the country’s food security.
The NFARMC is the country’s highest policy-making advisory multi-stakeholder body when it comes to the fisheries sector. Existing rules and regulation stipulated that the agriculture secretary must consult the NFARMC for matters related to the fisheries sector, including importation.
“The NFARMC is a body that has the recommendary responsibility. Let me use that word: recommendary responsibility,” he said.
“At the end of the day we take responsibility in terms of ensuring food security, in this case fish supply of small pelagic fishes,” he added.
The BusinessMirror earlier reported that the government is mulling over more fish imports this year to ensure sufficient supply and avert price increases in the market following the devastation caused by Typhoon “Odette” (international code name Rai) to the fisheries sector.
The fisheries sector recorded about P3 billion in damage and losses, making it the worst hit industry by Odette, Dar said.
Dar enumerated the factors he considered in issuing the 60,000-MT CNI which include the P3-billion losses incurred by the fisheries sector, curbing the contribution of fish to rising food inflation, and persisting logistical problems hindering the smooth transport of food products from one area to another.
“The fisheries subsector is the number one subsector badly hit by Odette. The capacity of our fishermen to catch will be in question,” he said.
“We also continue to see inflation and high prices of fish, which is second to pork in terms of contribution to overall food inflation,” he added.
The BusinessMirror broke the story earlier this month that Dar greenlighted the importation of 11,015 MT of small pelagic fishes to augment fish supply in Odette-hit areas to prevent possible price spikes due to shortage.
Dar signed and issued last December 30, 2021 the CNI to import 11,015 MT of frozen small pelagic for wet markets “for the benefit of the consuming public.”
The volume was the unused portion of the approved 51,246 MT of small pelagic fish imports out of the earlier approved CNI of 60,000 MT of frozen small pelagic fishes for wet markets in August 2021.
Dar noted that several sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPS-ICs) covering a volume of 2,441 MT were not used by importers and were surrendered to the government, leaving a total unused volume of 11,015 MT.
Dar explained that he issued a new CNI for the remaining volume to augment fish supply in areas affected by Odette. Under existing rules and regulations, the agriculture secretary must issue a CNI prior to allow any fish importation for wet market consumption.
“There is still a necessity to import the remaining volume of 11,015 metric tons of frozen small pelagic fish for wet markets in order to augment the shortage in the supply of fish especially in areas affected by the Typhoon Odette,” Dar said in the CNI he signed last December 30.
“In order to ensure national food security taking into consideration public welfare, the importation of 11,015 MT of frozen small pelagic fish for wet markets is hereby certified as necessary which shall be distributed to the Visayas and Mindanao only,” Dar added.