Thursday, March 16, 2006
Maxey: Killjoy of the poultry industry
By Ram Maxey
Bar None
DON'T look now, but Mindanao traders and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are on a collision course on the issue of whether to allow the importation of corn from neighboring countries or not.
The traders, especially those engaged in the poultry industry, are for importing the grain from Indonesia because it is much cheaper than locally produced corn. Which is sound business sense, of course.
On the other hand, the DA has discouraged importation for fear that the grain will bring in the bird flu virus, especially if it comes from Indonesia where such cases have been reported. That could be dangerous.
While Mindanao traders are concerned about their business, the DA is concerned about people's health. However, Department of Trade and Industry 11 Director and senior member of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) Merly Cruz has said that there is no solid proof to directly link bird flu virus to corn importation.
"The DA is just cautioning the traders to be aware of the possibilities," Cruz said.
The impasse is set to be broken by the DA when it submits its final position with regards the demand of Mindanao traders to import corn from neighboring countries. The position paper is supposed to be submitted in Davao City today, Wednesday, before the meeting of the BIMP-Eaga clusters on Natural Resources Development and Small and Medium Enterprise Development (SMED).
So, how come locally produced corn costs more than imported corn? Businessman Vic Lao, a ranking officer of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII), and a contractor and poultry raiser who intends to export halal chicken, has accused the DA of conniving with a corn cartel in Luzon, which is allegedly manipulating the prices of corn in the local market. That's a serious charge.
"If we are not satisfied with their (DA) excuse, we will take this matter up with the Office of the President," Lao said. The die is cast then?
Oh well, overly-expensive corn with which to feed chickens is no chicken feed, and Mr. Lao has a point there. But there is another way out of the impasse, and that is for the government to subsidize the corn industry so that it would drive down corn prices and make the poultry industry more profitable--and people like Mr. Lao happy.
This thing called bird flu virus is a killjoy.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (March 16, 2006 issue)
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