CNO producers buck planned copra levy

Manila, Philippines - Coconut oil producers expressed yesterday strong opposition to the plan of the provincial government of Northern Samar to impose a P0.50 levy for every kilo of copra exported from or imported into the province.

Northern Samar Sanggunian Panlalawigan kagawad Albert Lucero filed last week an ordinance imposing the 50-centavo levy, citing the need to address the spread of brontispa and other coconut pests to and/from Northern Samar and other provinces.

Henry T. Lao, chairman of the Philippine Coconut Oil Producers Association (PCOPA), said the proposed ordinance will effectively restrain free trade and will hurt coconut farmers in the province in the long term.

Lao warned that the proposed levy would limit the choice of oil mills or copra buyers on who may sell their copra to buyers.

“A coconut oil mill operating outside Northern Samar wanting to buy copra from the province will have to pay the proposed levy to bring out the copra from Northern Samar. This additional cost have to be deducted from the copra price it pays to the farmers, ” Lao said.

He explained that coconut oil millers cannot pass the additional cost to their customers because the international market is a “buyers’ market” which means the buyer has a bigger say in the pricing of the commodity.

Lao added that “eventually these oil mills operating outside Northern Samar will stop buying copra from coconut farmers in the province, and the coconut farmers will have no choice but to sell their produce to copra buyers and oil mills operating in Northern Samar.”

Lao argued that “the justification that the ordinance will prevent the spread of brontispa will not be achieved because a coconut farmer or dealer just needs to pay the levy to entitle him to transport and/or sell his copra to buyers outside the province.”

Lao pointed out that the Philippine Coconut Authority had already established adequate quarantine procedures to address the brontispa problem.

“This does not require an imposition of a levy,” Lao said.

Lao said that PCOPA is worried that the ordinance may enable a known big coconut oil miller operating in Northern Samar to corner all copra produced in the province.

“This will clearly benefit such coconut oil miller to the detriment of other millers in the region.” Lao added.

PCOPA and other sectors in the coconut industry will submit their own position papers to the Sanggunian Panlalawigan of Northern Samar, Lao said.

Lao said they would question the proposal up to the Supreme Court should the provincial government of Northern Samar approve the additional levy.