The Philippines has announced a 60-day suspension of imports of pork products to address low prices being received by pig producers, which the government blames on large volumes imported products.
The measure was ordered by the country’s Department of Agriculture on Monday and will take effect on November 24, according to the government’s official news agency.
Restrictions have been imposed on nine pork cut varieties for 60 days as a provisional safeguard measure. These suspensions covers fresh, chilled and frozen swine carcases and half carcases; bone-in ham, shoulders and cuts; and fresh, chilled and frozen edible offal and liver, Philstar reports.
The move followed an investigation that the department said found prima facie evidence 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.
The department has found that pork import surged by 42% to 836,239.91 metric tons in 2025 from 589,674.59 MT in 2023, with imports making up 61% of the country’s pork supply in 2025, compared with 39% in 2021.
It said the country’s self sufficiency ratio for pork declined to 65.5% in 2025 from 74.3% in 2021. “Excessive imports and frozen stock buildups caused farmgate prices to collapse in 2026,” the DA said.
At a news conference, Philippine Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr said the 60-day suspension could be extended depending on the needs of the sector, particularly based on the prices paid for pork, which are currently below production costs, Valor International reports.
UK exports
The Philippines has grown to one of the UK’s biggest export destinations outside of the EU and China. HMRC data summarised by AHDB shows the UK shipped just over 4,000t of fresh and frozen pork and 9,400t of offal to the Philippines over the first eight months of this year.