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Philippines: 70% tariff on rice imports pushed
MANILA, Philippines — The government should impose up to 70 percent tariff on rice imports amid the deluge of cheap imports that continue to dampen prices of unhusked rice, according to the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc.
The PCAFI said a tariff rate of at least 70 percent should be reasonable enough to give farmers an edge against imports.
“The safeguards will save government from needing to spend huge funds for conditional cash transfer or farmers’ loan, now placed by the Department of Agriculture at P15 billion, just to spare Filipino farmers from serious economic damage,” PCAFI president Danilo Fausto said.
The group warned that the continuous influx of cheap imported rice could threaten the country’s national security, prompting farmers in the rural areas to resort to joining communist rebels.
“We have to assess the situation because any further damage may affect our national security,” Fausto said.
He said PCAFI was not against the Rice Tariffication Law and even wanted it upheld through immediate implementation of its explicit provisions.
“We are not asking for a repeal or an amendment of the law. Let us implement the safeguards, “ Fausto said.
For his part, PCAFI trustee and Agri Fisheries Alliance chairman Ernesto Ordonez said the imposition of safeguards from the current 35 percent level was urgent even as there were trade notification rules involved.
The tariff protection under safeguard measures will be a temporary, transitory, policy while the government gives local farmers time to upgrade their competitiveness.
Since the law took effect, the Philippines has already imported more than two million metric tons of rice causing palay prices to plummet in most parts of the country.
Under the Safeguard Measures Act, safeguards may be imposed in conditions where there is significant idling of productive facilities in the domestic industry, inability of a significant number of firms to carry out domestic production at a profit, and unemployment or underemployment within the domestic industry.
Meanwhile, the Senate is rushing the passage of a joint resolution directing six national agencies and local government units to directly buy rice from local farmers.
Joint Resolution 8 directs the departments of Social Welfare and Development, Interior and Local Government, National Defense, Transportation, Environment and Natural Resources, and LGUs, in coordination with the National Food Authority to buy from local farmers for their rice subsidy program.
The joint resolution followed Senator Francis Pangilinan’s continuing call to help farmers survive the impact of the influx of imported rice due to the tariffication law.
“While we support the effort to have agencies buy directly from farmers we believe the money allocated for palay purchases may not be enough and that direct cash assistance should complement the palay purchases,” he said.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/10/03/1956841/70-tariff-rice-imports-pushed#XbcwvhQsHSmES6k0.99