Villar opposes rice tariff hike

Villar admitted that the declining prices of palay can be addressed easier by imposing higher tariffs but it would indicate that the country is “incompetent”.

Senator Villar said the declining prices of palay were prompted by cartel groups based in Central Luzon.

The government will no longer impose a higher tariff rate on imported rice amid fierce calls from farmers and industry stakeholders to implement safeguard measures to curb declining prices of palay or unhusked rice.

Senate committee chair on agriculture and food Sen. Cynthia Villar said the imposition of higher tariff rate would negatively affect the country’s global ratings.

“Imposing higher rice duties would mean we cannot compete. They will think that we just gave up and we just can’t do it. We should show them that we can compete,” Sen. Villar told reporters at the sidelines of the National Food Security Summit in Manila.

Villar admitted that the declining prices of palay can be addressed easier by imposing higher tariffs but it would indicate that the country is “incompetent.”

According to Raul Montemayor, national manager of an organized group Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), the government’s move to terminate its initiative to study the need to levy higher safeguard duties on rice imports will “pose irreparable harm to farmers.”

Under the World Trade Organization rules and Republic Act 8880 or the Safeguard Measures Act, general safeguard duties may be temporarily imposed on imports of rice, on top of regular tariffs, if there is an evident surge in rice imports that threatens the livelihood of rice farmers.

During the same event, Villar also disclosed that the government will limit the volume of rice imports next year to curb the cartel groups’ abusive manipulation of supply. She noted that the country should only import its annual supply deficit of one million metric tons.

This development came just now when the government had already removed the quantitative limits on imported rice seven months ago.

While local farmers reeling from the low prices of palay due to the enactment of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), Villar said the declining prices of palay were prompted by cartel groups based in Central Luzon.

“We only produce 93 percent to our rice so we import 7 percent which is about one million metric tons. That’s why there is a misunderstanding because it looks like the cartel groups control the supply now,” Villar explained.

As a result, Villar directed the Department of Agriculture (DA) to be stricter in releasing Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) permits to limit the rice importation.

Based on the latest price monitoring of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the current average farmgate price of palay as of the first week of October fell by 28.8 percent to P15.56 per kilogram (/kg) from the P21.86/kg during the same period last year.