THE Agri-Fisheries Alliance (AFA) said the government must immediately impose safeguard duties that would effectively raise tariffs on rice imports to stop farmers from incurring more losses due to the continuous drop in the farm-gate price of unhusked rice.
In a statement, the AFA said it “fully supports” the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) investigation into the surge in rice imports to determine whether safeguard measures are warranted.
“The rice farmers are suffering too much from the 35-percent tariff, which is too low and results in their earning significantly [dropping] below the poverty level,” Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. President Danilo V. Fausto said.
“We therefore ask for the implementation of Section 10 of the Rice Tariffication Law, which states: In order to protect the Philippine rice industry from sudden or extreme fluctuations, a special safeguard duty on rice shall be imposed in accordance with the Safeguard Measures Act,” Fausto added.
PCAFI is a member of AFA together with other groups, such as Alyansa Agrikultura (AA), Coalition of Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines (CAMP), Pambansang Kilusan ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan and Agrifisheries 2025.
AA Chairman Ernesto Ordoñez said slapping safeguard duties on imported rice would prevent the government from repeating its mistakes in the 1990s, when it unilaterally reduced tariffs on agricultural products.
“We do not want a repeat of the mistake during the 1990s when we agreed to the too rapid tariff reduction without giving the farmers the necessary support services and the safeguard measures approved by the World Trade Organization (WTO),” he said.
For his part, CAMP President Emil Q. Javier said the government should implement safety net measures, such as cash transfers and credit assistance, to help farmers cope with the new trade regime.
Under the rules of the WTO and the Safeguard Measures Act (Republic Act 8800), the government can impose the so-called general safeguard duties on rice imports on top of the regular tariffs if these are found to have caused, or threaten to cause, injury to rice farmers.
The DA has launched a preliminary investigation into rice imports last September 11 to determine if additional duties are warranted. Manila has the option to impose a provisional duty for a maximum of 200 days.
The Tariff Commission will then conduct its own investigation within 60 to 120 days to determine whether the provisional duty should be retained, amended or removed.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes