DESPITE the absence of interim rules and regulations for the implementation of the Rice Import Liberalization Act, the Bureau of Customs has issued an order to hasten the entry of the staple. On March 11, the BOC issued its Memorandum 2019-03-015 in line with the implementation of the tariff rates for rice in its electronic-to-mobile (E2M) system. The BOC said it issued the memorandum in accordance with the interim guidelines for the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 11203 and pending the issuance of the IRR of the Rice Import Liberalization Act.
The BOC memorandum said it is implementing “the tariff rate of 180 percent for out-quota tariff headings of rice originating from non-Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] WTO [World Trade Organization] member-states in the E2M system effective March 11.”
This is the third memorandum the BOC issued sans the IRR for RA 11203.
The second, Memorandum 2019-03-014, orders that all rice importations would be processed under the regular customs cargo clearance procedure, since the National Food Authority (NFA) ceased to exercise regulatory functions over international and domestic trading of rice.
It also said that the payment of advance customs duties and tariff for rice importation is no longer required. However, all importers of rice are required to secure a sanitary and hytosanitary import clearance (SPSIC) from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) prior to importation.
“Rice importations should arrive prior to the expiration of the SPSIC from the BPI,” the memorandum said.
An import duty rate of 35 percent under the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement (Atiga) is implemented for rice importations coming from the Asean region, while an out-quota of 180 percent shall apply for those that originate from non-Asean WTO member-states.
“Due to the perishable nature of rice importations and in order to protect the interest of the government, district collectors may allow release of goods pursuant to Section 304 and 426 of the CMTA [Customs Modernization and Tariff Act], pending the issuance of the IRR,” it added.
The first memorandum in line with rice importations was issued by the BOC on March 1 and which stated that “all rice importations covered by NFA import permit issued on or before March 4, 2019, shall be subject to in-quota tariff rates.”
Last week, it was reported by the BusinessMirror that National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Assistant Secretary Mercedita A. Sombilla received complaints from traders facing difficulties in retrieving their shipments at the port. The traders said the BOC have refused to recognize the certificate of eligibility (COE) to import from the NFA.
Sombilla said that the NFA Council (NFAC) had requested the NFA to furnish them a list of COEs it issued, which would make it easier for the BOC to identify the shipments that would be exempted from the new rules.
The Rice Import Liberalization Act took effect on March 5 after President Duterte signed it into law on February 14. The law removed two things: the quantitative restrictions on rice, replacing these with tariffs, and the powers of the NFA to issue import permits.
Image credits: Roy Domingo