Rice tariffication bill signed into law

In October 2018, Duterte certified the rice tariffication bill as urgent, telling the Congress that it will address the “urgent need to improve availability of rice in the country, prevent artificial rice shortages, reduce the prices of rice in the market, and curtail the prevalence of corruption and cartel domination in the rice industry.” (File photo by Adam Cohn/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law a bill that will remove restrictions on the quantity of rice being imported in the country.

This was confirmed through a text message by Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Friday, February 15.

A copy of the newly-signed law is yet to be released to the media, as of writing.

Under the rice tariffication law, there will be no limit on how much rice will enter the country as quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice importation is lifted.

Rice importers, instead, will have to pay a tariff.

Interested importers from Southeast Asia will pay a tariff of 35 percent. Those from non-ASEAN member states, meanwhile, will have to pay a 50 percent tariff.

They will also have to secure a phytosanitary permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry.

The law will also create the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) or the Rice Fund which has an initial appropriation of P10-billion.

Fifty percent of the fund will be allotted to farm mechanization; 30 percent for rice seed development, propagation, and promotion; 10 percent for credit with minimal assistance to farmers and cooperatives; and 10 percent for extension services to teach rice farmers rice crop production, modern methods of farming, seed production, and farm mechanization.

In October 2018, Duterte certified the rice tariffication bill as urgent, telling the Congress that it will address the “urgent need to improve availability of rice in the country, prevent artificial rice shortages, reduce the prices of rice in the market, and curtail the prevalence of corruption and cartel domination in the rice industry.”

Local rice industry groups, however, are not in favor of the bill, fearing that it will create a negative impact on the local rice industry.

Panelo earlier said the President had met with rice industry stakeholders in Malacañang on February 6 where he defended the measure.

“Those he met last night were against. But according to the President, the policy would be to the greater good, iyon ang ibibigay niya (so he will give it),” Panelo had said in a Palace briefing on February 7.

“Sabi ni Presidente sa kanila, ‘Eh puwedeng maapektuhan kayo, but iyong kabuuan ng mga Pilipino ang inaalala ko (The President told them, ‘You might be affected, but I am thinking about the welfare of whole Filipinos),” he added.