DA bans entry of imported pork cuts for 60 days

National

WITH imported pork accounting for 61 percent of the country’s supply in 2025, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has imposed a 60-day restriction on nine pork product varieties to protect the local hog industry from further injury.

Under Department Order 33, the agency introduced quantitative restrictions on selected pork imports as a provisional safeguard measure following findings that rising shipments had seriously affected domestic producers.

The restricted products include fresh, chilled and frozen swine carcasses and half carcasses; bone-in ham, shoulders and cuts; as well as fresh, chilled and frozen edible offal and liver.

The measure came after a safeguard investigation covering the period from 2021 to 2025, which found prima facie evidence that increased pork imports were a substantial cause of serious injury to local hog raisers.

The DA reported that pork imports climbed 42 percent to 836,239.91 metric tons in 2025 from 589,674.59 MT in 2023. Imported pork’s share of the country’s total supply also increased from 39 percent in 2021 to 61 percent in 2025.

Meanwhile, the country’s pork self-sufficiency ratio dropped to 65.5 percent in 2025 from 74.3 percent in 2021, indicating a growing reliance on imported supplies.

The department said rising imports had increased their market share and displaced local production over the years.

The DA also cited excessive imports and the buildup of frozen pork stocks as factors behind the collapse of farmgate prices in 2026.

The department warned that delaying intervention could result in irreparable damage to the domestic hog industry.

“Increased imports translated into significantly rising higher market share and significantly declining self-sufficiency ratio during the period of investigation that crowded out local production over the years,” the DA said.

Quantitative restrictions are trade measures imposed by a country to limit the volume of specific commodities that may be imported or exported.(MyTVCebu)