A non-government organization in the Philippines warned that the plan of the government to allow fish imports in public retail markets known as wet markets would lead to the liberalization of the national policy regulating such imports, which also serves to protect the domestic fisheries sector from the influx of massively subsidized fish imports.
In a statement on Friday, Tambuyog Development Center also said that allowing fish imports in wet markets would cause injury to the domestic fisheries sector.
Arsenio Tanchuling, executive director of Tambuyog, said he doubted that the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) could not think of any solution other than fish importation to the alleged fish shortage, even though fish is easily replaceable by other protein-rich animal food such as livestock and poultry.
He said that upon closer look, the DA and BFAR’s stubborn insistence on fish importation is consistent with the free-trade paradigm of the World Trade Organization and could be a ploy to justify proposals to liberalize fish importation in wet markets.
Tanchuling noted that Section 61 of the Fisheries Code does not allow fish importation in wet markets except if it is certified as necessary by DA, and that the intent of this provision is to protect the developing domestic fisheries sector.
He explained that in accordance with this provision in the Fisheries Code, Fisheries Administrative Order 195 (FAO 195) lays down the factors that must be considered in determining the necessity for fish importation in wet markets, including the threat or injury posed to local fishery products.
We are therefore worried about reports that BFAR officials are planning to amend the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of FAO 195 since it would only mean the liberalization or even removal of provisions regulating fish importation in wet markets, Tanchuling stressed.
He said that fish imports from China and Taiwan are a threat to local fishers because they are cheaper owing to the large annual fisheries subsidies of the two countries, which amount to US$55 million and US$158 million, respectively.
Locally produced galunggong (roundscad) has a retail price of P100-P120 per kilo, in contrast to only P60-P80 per kilo of the imported variety from China and Taiwan, even though there are some local traders who try to sell both products at the same price, Tanchuling explained.
He said that the alleged fish shortage could easily be filled up by increasing domestic livestock and poultry production, which is consistent with the national interest because it would stimulate the country’s agriculture industry.
The same could not be said of fish importation which would cause injury to the local fisheries sector, he added.