March 19, 2014
Taiwan likely to lower its pork tariff
Taiwan is considering reducing its tariff from 12.5% to 6.25%, to alleviate a pork shortage due to porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDv) and halt inflation initiated by rising pork prices.
United Statespork will benefit little from a Taiwan Council of Agriculture (COA) proposal to allow in 3,000 tonnes of foreign pork per month at half the import tariff due to the use of ractopamine.
Canadian pork may profit more, depending on circumstances in other countries. Ractopamine is a feed additive that promotes leanness in
pork.In order to alleviate a pork shortage due to PEDv and halt inflation initiated by rising pork prices, the COA would negotiate with the Ministry of Finance to lower the tariff from 12.5% to 6.25%, COA Deputy Minister Wen-Te Chen said at a meeting of the Economics Committee of the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan''s parliament.
"The price increase has been caused because pork suppliers are expecting prices to increase as the result of an outbreak of PEDv from October last year to the beginning of this month, which killed 220,000 piglets," Chen said.
The market price of pork has risen to TWD82 (US$2.70) per kilogramme from the regular seasonal price of TWD60 to TWD65 (US$1.98 to US$2.14) per kilogramme.
Chen said the COA commissioned the National Animal Industry Foundation (NAIF) to conduct the imports. The NAIF would store some of the pork to minimise the impact on the local pork market. However, the COA would not lower its zero-ractopamine policy onimported pork.
Chen said the COA would also coordinate with state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp., originally a sugar-exporting company that has since diversified, to increase local pork supply by 3,000 pigs this month.
Investigations will be carried out to determine whether meat markets and frozen meat companies are hoarding pork to drive up prices, according to Taiwan media.
The United StatesMeat Export Federation Taiwan director Davis Wu said that from his standpoint, the pork import increase and tariff reduction will not significantly benefit United Statespork, because of Taiwan''s zero-tolerance policy for ractopamine in the meat. Purchasing ractopamine-free United States pork would not be an option for buyers and consumers because of its high price, Wu said.
Canada Pork International president Jacques Pomerleau echoed Wu, telling that majority of Canada''s pork production is ractopamine-free, and his country implemented a protocol to guarantee ractopamine-free exports.
Pomerleau noted PED reduced the United States pork production by 5-8%, whereas Canada, relatively untouched by the disease, has a strong export-to-Taiwan potential, as the ractopamine issue reduced Canadian exports there 47% from 38,000 tonnes in 2009 to 20,000 tonnes in 2012.
As Russia has excluded European pork hit by African swine fever, European exporters may want to focus on filling the Taiwan quota, he said. And China may increase its pork demand, making that market even more attractive despite Taiwan''s tariff reduction, Pomerleau said.
Thomas Tseng, director of the agricultural products sub-committee of the Importers and Exporters Association of Taiwan, the largest trade association in Taiwan which includes 23 meat-importing companies, said price is the main issue.