Lawmakers should fast-track the approval of a bill that would scrap the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice so that the Philippines could immediately comply with its commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo R. Serrano on Monday again called on the Senate and the House of Representatives to prioritize the passage of the rice tariffication bill.
“What we are saying is that the rice tariffication [bill] should be passed as soon as possible. Let’s not mingle it with other issues, such as the reorganization of the NFA [National Food Authority],” Serrano told reporters in an interview at the House of Representatives in Quezon City.
“Everyone has agreed that we must tariffy, but that doesn’t mean we have to dissolve the NFA. That’s a different issue,” he added.
At the House of Representatives, the rice tariff bill that would scrap the QR on rice is already up for plenary deliberations.
This, after the House Committee on Appropriations, chaired by Rep. Karlo Alexei B. Nograles of the First District of Davao City, together with the House Committee on Agriculture and Food, chaired by Party-list Rep. Jose T. Panganiban Jr. of Anac-IP, endorsed in February for plenary approval the unnumbered substitute bill, which seeks to replace the rice QR with tariffs.
The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, chaired by Sen. Cynthia A. Villar, is yet to release its version of the rice tariff bill after a series of meetings have already been held.
After approving their respective versions of the rice tariffication bill, the Senate and the House of Representatives will transmit their bills to a bicameral conference committee to consolidate their versions and to discuss the divergent provisions.
The passage of the law allowing the tariffication of rice is included in the priority bills identified as urgent by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council. It is also one of the priority measures of Congress.
A Geneva trade official, who was privy to the proceedings of the WTO Committee on Agriculture meeting in February, said the Philippine delegation had informed WTO member-countries that lawmakers are “fast-tracking and prioritizing” the amendment of Republic Act (RA) 8178.
RA 8178, or the Agricultural Tariffication Act, had allowed the Philippines to continue imposing rice quotas even after the country’s waiver on the special treatment on rice had lapsed on June 30, 2017.
The Philippines is under pressure to convert its QR on rice into ordinary customs duties after its waiver on the special treatment on rice expired last year.
The WTO General Council approved the waiver, which allowed Manila to keep its rice QR until June 30, on the condition that the Philippines will subject its rice imports to ordinary custom duties by July 1, 2017.
In March last year, the Philippines informed WTO members that it is facing delays in converting the QR because it has not amended RA 8178, which imposed the import caps on rice indefinitely.
To avoid possible trade disputes, President Duterte issued an executive order which retained the country’s rice concessions as “a sign of goodwill” to the country’s trade partners while RA 8178 is being amended.
However, economists and government officials have noted that retaining the concessions is not a guarantee that trading partners will not file a complaint against the Philippines before the WTO for not converting the QR into tariffs.
Farm-gate price of palay
The average farm-gate price of unmilled rice continued to go up and rose to a 32-month high of P20.96 per kilogram (kg) during the first week of May, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Figures from the PSA shows that average farm-gate price of the staple during the period was 9.05 percent higher than the previous year’s price of P19.22 per kg.
PSA data showed that this was the highest average farm-gate price of palay since it reached P20.91 per kg in the third week of September 2015, when rice output was slashed by El Niño. In 2015 rice production fell by 4.31 percent to 18.14 million metric tons, from 18.96 MMT recorded in 2014.
The last time the average farm-gate price of palay breached P21 per kg was in the second week of September, when it reached P21.01 per kg.
From May 2 to 8, the PSA said the highest average farm-gate price of paddy was recorded in Nueva Ecija at P25.15 per kg. The lowest was recorded in Romblon and Compostela Valley at P15 per kg.
The monitoring report of the PSA also showed that the retail price of well-milled rice rose by 0.21 percent to P43.86 per kg, from P43.77 per kg recorded a week ago. The figure was 5.48 percent higher than the P41.58-per-kg quotation recorded in the same week of 2017.
“This week’s average wholesale price of well-milled rice was quoted at P41.14 per kg,” the PSA said.
“It fell by 0.05 percent, from previous week’s level of P41.16 per kg. Compared to the same period in the previous year, it went up by 6.91 percent,” the PSA added.
The average retail price of regular-milled rice remained at P40.04 per kg, according to the PSA. “At the retail trade, the average price of regular-milled rice at P40.04 per kg inched up by 0.02 percent, from previous week’s level. Similarly, it recorded an increment of 7.29 percent, from a year-ago price level of P37.32 per kg.”
Image credits: WWW.PHILRICE.GOV.PH