DA eyes suggested retail prices on agri products

The Department of Agriculture (DA) plans to impose suggested retail price (SRP) to all agricultural products.

Dr. Gerry Avila, officer-in-charge of the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division of DA-7, said in an interview on Monday that their central office was discussing how to implement SRP to agricultural products like rice, corn, fruit, vegetables, poultry and fishery products.

Avila said that under Republic Act (R.A.) 10623 or the Price Act of 2013, which amends R.A. 7581, DA is mandated to implement SRP to all prime commodities, including agricultural products, along with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

He said that DA had already issued implementing rules and regulation (IRR) for the law.

“We still don’t have concrete plan on how to craft and implement SRP to agri-products. The department is in close coordination with the private sector, stakeholders and consumers on how to balance this plan,” Avila said.

He, however, admitted that there are a lot of challenges that they had to face in implementing to SRP to agri-products.

“For instance, if you’ll impose SRP to fish, we need to consider first the cost of production, whether it comes from the wild or from fish pens. We also need to consider the impact of the TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) law and the price of petroleum products,” he added.

He said that the factors that affect the price of agricultural products would be the shelf life of perishable products, its substitutability to other products and elasticity of its demand in the market.

He also said that the department would also need to consider the spending capacity of consumers, especially in areas with high incidents of poverty.

“It’s also hard to decide on which sector will the department prioritize in crafting the SRP. Will it be in favor of the farmers or the consumers?” he said.

He also cited unstable condition of agricultural products, which would affect the prices in the market.

“Like in rice production, wherein farmers are experiencing lean months or no production, so we can expect an increase in the price of rice. Plus, farmers have different production cost on their spending for the variety of crops that they plant, the purchase of fertilizers and among others,” Avila added.

Avila hopes that the department would be able to clarify these things first before the implementation of SRP to agri-products.

“If we compare it to DTI, it’s much easier for them because they just need to trace the history of production of a company to arrive at a suggested retail price,” he explained.