Department of Agriculture bans imported pork cuts

The agency has imposed quantitative restrictions on nine pork cut varieties for 60 days as a provisional safeguard measure, according to Department Order 33.

STAR / File

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has banned the entry of various imported pork cuts, as its investigation found that continued imports cause injury to the country’s hog industry.

The agency has imposed quantitative restrictions on nine pork cut varieties for 60 days as a provisional safeguard measure, according to Department Order 33.

Included in the ban are fresh, chilled and frozen swine carcasses and half carcasses; bone-in ham, shoulders and cuts; and fresh, chilled and frozen edible offal and liver.

Quantitative restrictions are trade measures that a country imposes to limit the import or export of a specific commodity or item.

The department said prima facie evidence showed that surging pork imports were a substantial cause of serious injury to local hog raisers and that any delay in intervention could result in irreparable damage to the industry.

“Increased imports translated into significantly rising higher market share and significantly declining self-sufficiency ratio during the period of investigation that crowded out local production over the years,” the DA said.

This comes after the agency conducted a safeguard measures investigation for 2021 to 2025.

The agency has found that pork import surged by 42 percent to 836,239.91 metric tons in 2025 from 589,674.59 MT in 2023.

It added that imports made up a growing portion of the country’s pork supply, increasing to 61 percent in 2025 from 39 percent in 2021.

The agency stressed that the country’s self sufficiency ratio for pork declined to 65.5 percent in 2025 from 74.3 percent in 2021.

“Excessive imports and frozen stock buildups caused farmgate prices to collapse in 2026,” the DA said.