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Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Agri department to submit final stand on corn importation row
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to submit its final position with regards the demand of Mindanao traders to be allowed to import corn from neighboring countries.
It was learned that DA has discouraged corn importation for fear that the grain will bring in bird flu virus, especially grains from Indonesia.
Department of Trade and Industry 11 director and senior member of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) Merly Cruz said the DA is supposed to submit its position paper on the issue before the meeting of the BIMP-Eaga clusters on Natural Resources Development and Small and Medium Enterprise Development (SMED) here in Davao City this Wednesday.
Cruz said though there is no solid proof to directly link bird-flu virus to corn importation she said DA officials are just cautioning the traders to be aware of the possibilities.
It was learned that traders wanted to import much cheaper corn from Indonesia. Authorities are hesitant though since Indonesia is infected with bird-flu.
A businessman branded DA's excuse as a lame one. In a telephone interview last week, businessman Vic Lao accused the DA of conniving with a corn cartel in Luzon who are manipulating the prices of corn in the local market.
Lao is a ranking official of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII), a contractor and poultry raiser who intends to export halal chicken.
He said the price of local corn is too high for many businessmen in Mindanao, thus they wanted to import much cheaper corn from neighboring countries.
"The chamber will definitely push them to the wall. If we are not satisfied with their excuse then ipaparating namin ito sa Office of the President," Lao warned.
Cruz admitted that the poultry industry is incurring heavy expenses due to high prices of corn which serves a feeds for the chickens.
Cruz however said that aside from importing cheap corn, another solution to the problem would be for the government to subsidize the corn industry so that it would drive down the corn prices and make the poultry industry more profitable. (BOT)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (March 14, 2006 issue)
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