DA seeks reversal of SC rule on safeguard measures

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is exhausting all legal remedies in contesting a Supreme Court (SC) ruling stripping the executive branch of its authority to curb the entry of cheaper imported agricultural products.

Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano said the DA is seeking the assistance of the Office of the Solicitor General in seeking a reconsideration on a recent SC decision voiding the Safeguards Measures Act (SMA) which allows department heads to impose additional duties on certain imported commodities that are priced lower than local produce.

Ruling on the cases of Southern Cross Corp. and the Filipino Metals Corp., the SC declared last week that the implemen-ting rules of the SMA can no longer be applied. The SC also ruled that any deci-sion of the Tariff Com-mission cannot be questioned by the DA and the Department of Trade and Industry.

"The SC ruling has far-reaching conse-quences for the agri-culture and manufac-turing sectors because it covers the raw ma-terial and other in-puts," noted Serrano.

He pointed out that the SMA in-cludes a special safe-guards mechanism that members of the World Trade Organi-zation (WTO) can re-sort to for grievance. The special safe-guards are contingen-cy restrictions on imports that are im-posed temporarily to deal with extraordi-nary circumstances such as a sudden surge in imports.

For instance, addi-tional tariffs on im-ported agricultural commodities are im-posed on top of exis-ting outbound rates committed to the WTO if the so-called trigger price is breached.

"What this initially implies for the agriculture sector is that we could no longer put additional tariffs if for instance there is a sudden influx of chicken imports. The special safeguards allow us to automatically impose tariffs if imports are priced lower than what is produced domestically," said Serrano.

He said the SC ruling will endanger the agriculture sector, especially the P150-billion local poultry industry which employs about 300,000 workers.

Another sector that will be hurt by the SC ruling is the domestic onion industry which is already reeling from the unabated entry of cheap imported onions from China.

In a related development, the Alyansa Agrikultura led by former Trade and Agriculture Undersecretary Ernesto Ordoñez said in a statement that the government should push for the reversal of the SC ruling.

"We are the only country that allows its local producers to suffer at the hands of importers because of inadequate and ineffective safety nets. We should demand the government to petition the SC to address this serious legal obstacles,"said Ordoñez.