News Details

DA Boosts Nationwide Crackdown on Mislabeling and Improper Handling of Frozen Meat

NPO

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November 17, 2025

MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) has strengthened its nationwide surveillance of supermarkets and wet markets to ensure the proper labeling and handling of frozen meat, amid heightened concerns over food safety and deceptive retail practices.

In a statement Friday, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said he has directed the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS), Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), and National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) to intensify inspections and enforce strict compliance with labeling and storage rules.

“Frozen meat must be properly labeled and stored,” Tiu Laurel emphasized. “Retailers cannot pass off frozen products as fresh. Food safety and fair trade are non-negotiable.”

The DA noted that some sellers continue to misrepresent frozen pork as fresh, misleading consumers and undercutting legitimate retailers and local producers. The ramped-up monitoring aims to increase transparency, safeguard consumers, restore profitability to local hog raisers amid volatile prices, and promote discipline across the meat supply chain.

The move reinforces ongoing efforts to stabilize the hog industry, as farmers face declining farmgate prices despite stagnant retail rates. Hog producers currently sell live hogs at ₱150 to ₱180 per kilo, prompting DA and industry groups to push for a ₱210-per-kilo minimum farmgate price to prevent further losses.

Despite lower farmgate prices, liempo still sells at around ₱400 per kilo—an indicator of inefficiencies or unfair pricing along the supply chain, Tiu Laurel noted.

The DA is also reviewing the possible reimposition of a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for pork to ensure consumer protection.

“Farmgate prices have dropped sharply, yet consumers haven’t felt any relief. This imbalance needs to be addressed,” Tiu Laurel said.

Industry groups—Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI), and Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines (PROPORK)—have expressed support for the DA’s actions and reiterated calls to restore pork import tariffs to 40 percent from the current 25 percent under Executive Order 62. They noted that lower duties have encouraged excessive imports, further squeezing local producers.

Meanwhile, the DA is preparing an administrative circular that will reclassify pork jowls to ensure they are subject to the correct tariff rate, following increased demand from food processors and restaurant operators.

NPO News Team | PNA – PR