THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said compliance with the maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for pork has been spotty over a week after the scheme took effect.
The compliance rate among about 170 retailers monitored by the DA was 20%, Agriculture spokesman Arnel V. de Mesa told reporters.
Retailers have failed to comply with the MSRP because the price set by traders remains high, he said, even though the farmgate price for hogs has decreased.
On March 10, the MSRP was set at P380 per kilo for liempo (belly) and at P350 per kilo for kasim (shoulder) and pigue (rear leg).
The DA has also imposed a maximum suggested price of P300 per kilo for sabit ulo, the price at which traders pass on pork to retailers.
Pork sold in so-called “modern markets” such as supermarkets and hypermarkets is exempt from the MSRP scheme due to their higher operating costs.
Mr. De Mesa said farmgate prices have fallen to as little as P220.
“So, why can’t it reach P300 when in fact they agreed that the profit margin for viajeros (traders) should be P70 pesos?” he said.
The government first applied the MSRP approach to rice.
Mr. De Mesa said the DA was expecting the pork MSRP to be more broadly observed because hogs need to be sold in markets immediately after they are butchered.
“It’s not like rice that you can store for a longer time,” he said.
The level of compliance after the first week of the MSRP for rice was 40-45%.
Mr. De Mesa said prevailing prices remain high for pork belly (P420 per kilo) and rear leg (P380). — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza