Bantay Bigas, an alliance for safe, sufficient and affordable rice, is opposing the Duterte administration’s plan for rice imports “tariffication,” saying such doesn’t provide enough protection to local rice farmers.
“The proposed tariffication is very alarming, as it is leading to the full liberalization of the rice industry. The flooding of cheap imported rice will be catastrophic to the rice farmers, especially [so with] the government’s support to agriculture and farmers…limited by the agreement with WTO-AOA [World Trade Organization-Agreement on Agriculture], which pushes for total state non-intervention,” Zen Soriano, Bantay Bigas spokesman, said in a news statement.
The Philippines intends to impose a bound tariff rate of 35 percent for rice coming from the Asean countries without volume cap and a 40-percent bound tariff most favored nation (MFN) rate for in-quota rice imports from countries outside of Asean, and a 400-percent MFN rate tariff outside of the minimum access volume (MAV) of 350, 000 metric tons (MT) from non-Asean member-countries.
However, Soriano said, essentially, there will be an almost unlimited entry of imported rice in the country, which will hinder the development of the local rice industry and the people’s aspiration for safe, sufficient and affordable food.
“Duterte’s economic managers and supporters of neoliberal policies argue that increasing the competition between traders will lower the rice prices. But this has not been the case since the country entered the WTO,” Soriano added.
He said retail rice prices have tripled since 1994, prior to the country’s WTO membership. The retail price of regular-milled rice has increased from P12.21 per kilo in 1994 to P38 per kilo this October, while the retail price of well-milled rice increased from P13.29 per kilo to P42.24 per kilo during the same time frame.
“Instead of strengthening the local production and agricultural development, the government resorted to dependence on importation as a method to attain ‘food security,’” Soriano said.
She explained that current palay production is only at the half of its potential since only 53 percent of irrigable lands have irrigation services, while some existing irrigation facilities are not well-maintained. If the sufficient irrigation service is provided to our rice lands along with the provision of other support services, rice production will likely increase.
“Genuine development of the domestic rice industry is necessary. To achieve this, the government must veer away from the liberalization of agriculture. We are supporting the enactment of the Rice Industry Development Act to be filed by Anakpawis Party-list in Congress,” Soriano said.
Bantay Bigas conveners said the local rice industry and agriculture could be strengthened through the implementation of pro-people policies, provision of adequate support, production subsidies, seeds and organic fertilizers subsidies and free irrigation services for rice farmers.
The full utilization of locally adapted rice varieties, protection of local varieties from appropriations, and recognition of farmers’ rights over seeds, including seed exchanging and saving, should also be fulfilled.
The government must also stop land use and crop conversions in all agricultural lands, especially those planted with rice and corn, the group said.