Pork imports are arriving to tamp down soaring prices of the commodity, Executive Yuan Spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun stated today.
A total of 1,939 metric tons of imported pork are scheduled to arrive in the month of May in separate shipments, some of which have already arrived. These include orders placed by the Council of Agriculture (COA) to France and Denmark earlier this year as well as domestic buyers' purchases from foreign countries.
Premier Jiang Yi-huah instructed the COA to monitor pork price fluctuations and to release the imports as needed in order to stabilize the prices, supply and demand for the commodity during the Dragon Boat Festival (June 2 this year).
These remarks were made after the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) today released the latest monthly commodity price report, which indicated that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April rose 1.65 percent year-on-year.
In early 2014, owing to weather conditions as well as market expectations in the wake of certain animal epidemics, wholesale prices of major commodities such as pork, rice and eggs soared. The CPI indicated that fruit, meat and egg prices in April appeared more stable than the month before but still relatively higher than one year before, and the average cost of dining out rose significantly as well.
The price stabilization task force led by Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo has recently convened a number of inter-ministerial meetings to closely monitor various agricultural, fishery and livestock products as well as prices of daily commodities and their supply and demand, and it will activate various adjustment measures as the situation demands, Sun stated.
In order to stabilize major commodity prices, the task force has directed the COA to activate adjustment measures. Among these, five major initiatives targeting pork prices were implemented, including placing a ceiling, in different phases, on the total volume of hog purchases by operators in meat markets; adjusting insurance compensation for the death of hogs during transportation; coordinating with the Executive Yuan's Department of Consumer Protection to set up "no price-hike sections" in six major distribution channels; carrying out special pork import orders; and inspecting purchase and storage conditions of meat operators.
"The government is concerned about the impact of commodity prices on the public and will continue to oversee and stabilize prices of agricultural products through suitable measures, providing more options for consumers," the spokesperson said.