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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved the importation of 21,060 metric tons of fresh onions to address the supply gap and stabilize the spice’s soaring price
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Of the total approved volume, 17,100MT should be red onions covered by 326 sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPSICs) and the remaining 3,960MT, by 163 SPSICs, according to the Department of Agriculture
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Upon issuance of SPSICs, all importations should arrive by January 27
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A DA official says by the peak of the harvest season, the retail price of onions is expected return to the September 2022 levels of P150 to P200 per kilo
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., concurrently head of the Department of Agriculture (DA), has approved the importation of 21,060 metric tons (MT) of fresh onions to address the supply gap and stabilize the soaring price of the commodity.
The approved volume was less than the 22,000 MT recommended by the DA, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Rex Estoperez, who is also the deputy spokesperson, said in a Laging Handa briefing on January 10.
The rules on the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPSIC) for the importation of fresh yellow and red onions by Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI)-registered importers was signed by Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban on January 6.
The importation aims to address the supply gap before this year’s peak harvest season and stabilize the price of fresh onions that has been rising continuously in the market.
Of the 21,060MT total volume, 17,100MT should be red onions to be covered by 326 SPSICs (at 50MT per SPSIC). The remaining 3,960MT will be covered by 163 SPSICs (at 25MT per SPSIC).
The issuance of SPSICs resumed on January 9 and ends on January 13.
Upon issuance of SPSICs, all importations should arrive by January 27. Shipments arriving beyond January 27 will be considered invalid and BPI will order a “return to origin” as final disposition for such shipments. Moreover, no request for extension of the arrival date will be allowed, DA said.
Estoperez said the importation must arrive before the peak harvest season of local onions by mid-February “to protect also our onion growers.”
The ports of entry for the covered fresh onions are Manila South Harbor, Subic Port, Cebu Port, Davao Port, and Cagayan de Oro Port. Imported fresh onions should only be stored in DA-accredited cold storage facilities.
Importers who fail to utilize their issued SPSICs will not be eligible to apply for issuance of new SPSICs for fresh onions.
Estoperez said that by the peak of the harvest season, the DA expects the retail price of onions to return to the September 2022 levels of P150 to P200 per kilo, which was lower than when prices had shot up in December 2022 due to the holiday demand and despite the start of the off-season harvest.
He earlier admitted that onion prices in country have gone “out of control” and that the DA may be forced to resort to importation.
In some markets, the price of red onions have reportedly reached P720 per kilo, nearly three times the DA’s suggested retail price of P250 on December 30, 2022.
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