The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Wednesday said it has started imposing lower tariffs on rice imports.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero signed Customs Memorandum Circular (CMC) 108-2021 formalizing the one-year imposition of lower tariffs on rice imports after President Duterte’s Executive Order 135 took effect on June 2.
EO 135 reduced the Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff rates for rice, to 35 percent from 40 percent (in-quota) and 50 percent (out-quota) for a period of one year.
“In view of the effectivity of Executive Order No. 135 [Series of 2021] on ‘Temporarily Modifying the Rates of Import Duty on Rice’ under Section 1611 of Republic Act No. 10863, otherwise known as the ‘Customs Modernization and Tariff Act’ on 02 June 2021, which shall be effective for a period of one [1] year from such date, all concerned are informed at all articles specifically listed in Annex A of EO 135 [s. 2021], which are entered into or withdrawn from warehouses in the Philippines for consumption, shall be levied the temporary MFN rates of duty as prescribed therein,” Guerrero said in the CMC dated June 1.
Moreover, Guerrero also said BOC’s Electronic to Mobile System must reflect the temporary tariff rates.
Last month, Malacañang said there is a need to lower tariffs for rice imports to offset the expected 10-percent shortfall in the local supply of rice this year.
EO 135 earlier drew criticism from farmers and senators who said the directive was “unnecessary” due to the sufficiency of the local rice production this year.
The Federation of Free Farmers has said the government may lose P548 million or more than nine-fold higher than the P60-million estimate of the Tariff Commission, if rice tariffs on imports from non-Asean countries were reduced to 35 percent.