By Victoria ”NIKE” De Dios
With the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine that inevitably impact the supply and prices of goods like meat, British Chamber of Commerce Philippines’ Executive Director and Trustee Chris Nelson vows that the chamber is committed to cushion the impact of inflation by providing stable supply of meat to the Philippines from the UK.
He also noted that the Philippines is a valuable trade partner of the UK since the Philippines is the second largest market for British meat after China.
“China obviously seems to have reversed its policy; so that may actually help in terms of supply chain issues, which was a key factor. And obviously, as we go on, there could be mitigation on to the inflation.” Nelson mentioned. The supply of British meat to the Philippines will continue to foster.
The British Chamber had two meat trade missions this year in partnership with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in May and December. In correlation, President Marcos Jr. has recently approved the recommendation of NEDA to extend lowered tariff rates on pork, rice, and corn until December 31, 2023. This will also help to provide food security in the country.
Now, the UK-Philippine trade is at 2 billion pounds a year and continued growth in trade is expected especially with the extension of the lowering of tarrif for imported meats.