An executive order (EO) that will remove administrative and non-tariff barriers on the importation of food items to temper inflation has been submitted by the Economic Development Cluster (EDC) to the Office of the President for implementation this month.

Recommended to the President before Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, the EO will zero in on fish, rice, sugar, meat and vegetables—considering that the rise in prices of these items has been the major contributor to inflation for the past two months. Fish and seafood, rice and meat, and vegetables accounted for 2.4 percentage points out of the 6.4 percent inflation rate in August.

“The issuance of the executive order, as well as quick implementation of immediate and short-term measures, will address the supply issues that have been driving up inflation,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said.

The proposed EO will jump off from the measures and reforms identified by the EDC to tame food inflation. Immediate to short-term measures include making rice available in the market through immediate release of stocks from NFA warehouses, importation and distribution of projected harvest, monitoring of rice transfer from ports to warehouses and retail outlets, and the speedy passage of the rice tariffication bill.

Availability of fish and chicken will be increased by allowing imports to be distributed quickly and by setting up public markets with cold storage facilities where producers can sell directly to consumers. Apart from importation, improving logistics, transport, distribution and storage was also deemed crucial for curbing price inflation of sugar, vegetables and other food items.

Medium to long-term measures include boosting agricultural production by promoting the use of and developing resilient and high-yielding varieties of crops while reassessing the country’s planting season and crop viability in each region. Policy measures include the review and possible amendment of the Fisheries Code and other policies governing the sector and legislation for the tariffication also of sugar, fish, meat and vegetables.

The EDC reiterated the urgency of passing the rice tariffication bill, which is currently in the Senate after approval by the House of Representatives. (PR)