Taxes from imported rice reach P15.5B

Tariffs collected from impor­ted rice reached P15.49 billion in 2020 due to higher volume and improved valuation, the Department of Finance (DOF) said on Sunday.

Citing a recent report from Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero, the DOF said in a statement that rice import volume rose to 2.38 million metric tons (MT) last year from 2.03 million MT in 2019, when the rice tariffication law took effect.

As such, the revenues generated by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) climbed from P12.31 billion in 2019, Guerrero told Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

Guerrero also attributed the higher rice tariff collection to a 7-percent increase in the grain’s tariffied value to P20,320 a MT in 2020 from P18,980 in 2019.

“This improvement in valuation was the result of the BOC paying particular attention to the classification, quantity and weight of rice stocks imported by private traders under the rice tariffication law,” Guerrero said.

The proceeds from the import duties go to the yearly P10-billion rice competitiveness enhancement fund, which finances farm moderni­zation programs and projects to help local farmers badly hit by liberalized trade.

While the rice tariffication law was generally aimed at keeping domestic prices of the Filipino staple low, the latest government data showed that rice inflation inched up 0.1 percent year-on-year nationwide in December 2020, ending 19 consecutive months of deflation since May 2019 due to faster price hikes in Metro Manila.

Republic Act No. 11203 or the rice tariffication law, slapped these levy on imported rice: 35 percent if from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ­(Asean); 40 percent if within the minimum access volume (MAV) of 350,000 MT and from countries outside Asean, and 180 percent if above the MAV and coming from a non-Asean country. INQ