THE House of Representatives on Tuesday endorsed for Senate approval House Bill (HB) 7735, or the proposed “Revised Agricultural Tariffication Act,” which would convert the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice into tariffs.
With 200 affirmative votes, seven negative and two abstentions, the lawmakers passed on third and final reading the measure, which also seeks to put in place safety nets for Filipino rice producers and consumers.
The bill will now be transmitted to the Senate for its own deliberations and approval.
One of its most important provisions is the creation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEP), which shall consist of all duties collected from rice imports. The fund will be used to help rice farmers become competitive.
In his 2019 budget message to Congress, President Duterte is pushing for the passage of the rice tariffication bill, as it will help reduce the price of rice by P3.40 per kilogram.
If implemented in the last quarter of this year, he said it could reduce headline inflation by about 0.20 percentage point, and an additional 0.60 percentage point in 2019.
Under HB 7735, the Lower House has set the bound tariff rate for rice imports outside the minimum access volume (MAV) at 180 percent.
The measure indicated that the Philippines will impose a bound tariff rate of 35 percent for rice from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region, regardless of volume. Manila will also impose a 40-percent bound tariff most-favored nation (MFN) rate for in-quota rice imports from countries that do not belong to Asean.
Once the bill is enacted into law, the country’s MAV for rice shall revert to its 2012 level of 350,000 metric tons, from the current 805,000 MT.
The bill mandates the National Food Authority (NFA) as the sole authority that will undertake the direct importation of rice for the sole purpose of ensuring food security and maintaining sufficient national buffer stocks.
The measure defines buffer stock as reserve equivalent to 15 days of national consumption requirement and maintained by the NFA at any given time to address calamities, and to stabilize prices.
It authorizes the NFA to allocate import permits among certified and licensed importers for importation other than maintaining buffer stocks while mandating the agency to issue guidelines for the export of rice and corn by certified and licensed traders.
The bill also empowers the President, when necessary, to adjust the applied rate; regulate rice exports, impose temporary regulations or restrictions on the volume of imports of rice; and enter into trade negotiations or renegotiations relating to the bound or maximum rates committed to or to be committed by the Philippines in relation to rice.