Rice import easing generates P6.5B

In its first three months of implementation, the Rice Liberalization Act has generated P6.5 billion in import duties from private importers, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Monday.

In a statement, the DOF said the duties collected under Republic Act (RA) No. 11203 since it was implemented on March 5 averaged P1.4 billion a month as of mid July.

On top of the BOC’s collections, the government also earned P3.1 billion in duties from National Food Authority (NFA)-issued import permits, the country’s second biggest revenue agency said in a recent report to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III.

As of July 15, the Port of Subic collected the biggest amount of rice import duties at P1.6 billion; the Manila International Container Port had P1.03 billion, and the Port of Manila, P998.8 million.

“At an average of P1.4 billion a month, the BOC remains on course to collect the minimum of P10 billion needed for the RCEF per year,” the DOF said, referring to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.

For 2019, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) already released P5 billion for the RCEF, which will go to projects aimed at modernizing the agriculture sector while also assisting farmers through access to credit, mechanization, high-quality seeds and fertilizers, the DOF noted.

Under RA 11203, the following tariff rates apply: 35 percent if rice is imported from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean); 40 percent if within the minimum access volume (MAV) of 350,000 metric tons from countries outside Asean, and 180 percent if above the MAV and coming from a non-Asean country.

But more than the incremental revenues, the Rice Tariffication Act also helped slash the average retail price of the Filipino staple food by about P7 a kilo, the DOF said.

Dominguez earlier said prices of well-milled rice declined to P42.92 a kilo as of June from P45.09 in January and P49.06 in September last year, citing a report from Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila Jr. of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

As for regular milled rice, prices dropped to P38.56 a kilo in June from P41.41 in January and P45.75 in September 2018, Dakila’s report to Dominguez showed.