Lucelle G.

Fortades
BSA-3B

DA wants P62 B budget for 2-year rice production

SOURCE: http://www.philstar.com/business/2016/07/07/1600213/da-wants-p62-b-budget-2-year-riceproduction
MANILA, Philippines The Department of Agriculture (DA) is proposing a P62 billion budget for rice production in the next
two years in line with its goal to hit 100 percent rice self-sufficiency level by 2018.
Agriculture chief Manny Piol said the budget would cover four cropping seasons with a total area of 890,000 hectares.
The intervention will include seeds, fertilizers, and insurance for the farmers. The next cropping season will begin by
September.
We project that we will be able to reduce the rice shortage of the country by the end of 2018, we will already go 100
percent rice self-sufficiency, Piol said on the sidelines of a forum with farmers held at the University of the PhilippinesLos Baos Wednesday afternoon.
This is doable. We just need to have interventions, he added.
At present, the Philippines is 97 percent rice self-sufficient.

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Former agriculture chief Proceso Alcala had targeted to reach the 100 percent level by the end of the Aquino
administration but failed to do so.
Piol previously warned that regional directors would be removed from office should the agency fail to achieve rice
sufficiency by 2018.
I will give them all the support that they need including irrigation, seeds, fertilizers and farm inputs. But if after two years,
nothing happens, I will remove them, he said.
The DA also intends to come up with grain surplus stocks at any give time to avoid food riot in the country especially when
natural phenomena occur.
Im not saying that it would happen in the next six years. But our vision towards the end of this administration is to
establish grain silos all over the country particularly in critical areas which will hold supply good for six months, Piol said.

Lenjoemae F. Suazo

BSA-3B

VAT exemptions up for DOF review

SOURCE: http://www.mb.com.ph/vat-exemptions-up-for-dof-review/
The Department of Finance (DOF) plans to repeal the exemptions on value-added tax (VAT) which include rental, and tuition fees.
Amid plans to lower the countrys income tax rates, the finance department is now looking at other sources of revenues to compensate
for several tax eroding measures being proposed to the Duterte administration.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said one of the measures being considered by the new administration is the review of all
VAT-exemptions provided to businesses and professionals.
Under section 109 of the tax Code, several goods and services are exempted from paying the 12-percent consumption levy, including
business owners whose annual income do not exceed P1.9 million.
Also included in VAT exemptions are sale or importation of agricultural and marine food products, livestock and poultry, including their
feeds; fertilizers, seeds, seedlings and fingerlings; professional instruments and implements, wearing apparel, domestic animals and
personal household effects.
Services by agricultural contract growers and millers of palay, corn and sugar, as well as sales by agricultural cooperatives are also
exempted from VAT, along with medical, dental, hospital and veterinary services rendered by professionals.
VAT exemptions to duly accredited private schools, regional headquarters of multinational companies in the Philippines, and income
from lending activities by credit or multi-purpose cooperatives are also subject for review.
The government is also considering the imposition of VAT on rental fees of residential units exceeding P12,800, and sale, importation,
printing or publication of books, newspapers, and magazines.
Local and international transport operators, like airline companies, may also pay VAT if they import, lease or purchase new aircraft and
vessels, including engine, equipments, and spare parts.
Importation of fuel, goods and supplies by persons engaged in international shipping or air transition operations is also being
considered to be covered by the VAT.
VAT-exempt services of banks, non-bank financial intermediaries performing quasi-banking functions, and the non-bank financial
intermediaries are also subject for review.
But along with the abolition of VAT exemptions, the DOF will push for the reduction of individual and corporate tax rates as well as
indexation of the almost two-decades-tax brackets to inflation.
The new administration will definitely review the tax system, initially to update the income tax brackets and eventually to lowering
corporate and individual tax rates. We wish to see our workers having more disposable income to do as they wish, Dominguez said.
The incoming Finance chief nonetheless pointed out the need to broaden the tax base even more to compensate for lower rates.
The DOF, however, will retain the VAT-exemptions of senior citizens and persons with disability.

CARLO G. LAMBERTE
BSA-3B

APEC eases shipments of wines

Singapore Wine lovers and exporters around the Pacific Rim will have reason to pop the cork
Thursday after officials slashed red tape on shipments in the region that will ease an expensive
bottleneck.
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group said in a statement that the 21-member
economies had agreed on a standard, simplified certificate, replacing the multi-layered system that
had led to losses of about $1.0 billion a year in the industry.
And while exporters such as Australia, Chile, New Zealand and the United States are expected to
benefit from the simplified regime, wine drinkers will also have a reason to celebrate as it is should
lead to a wider array of choices at cheaper prices.
Easier, more inclusive wine trade can improve product availability and prices for consumers and
improve job creation and growth, said Tom LaFaille, international trade counsel for the Wine Institute,
the private sector overseer of the APEC Wine Regulatory Forum.
Jamie Ferman of the US Department of Commerce described the model certificate as a win-win for
the industry. Rocio Barrios Alvarado, chair of the APEC sub-committee on standards and
conformance, said the single certificate will reduce administrative burdens for producers endeavoring
to take advantage of the increasing taste for wine in the region.
APEC said the blocs wine trade had more than tripled to over $23 billion since 2000, but
unnecessary non-tariff barriers and overlapping certificates had mean companies were facing huge
costs.
It said focus now is on having the certificate implemented. APEC agreements are implemented on a
voluntary basis and results are achieved through dialogue, cooperation and peer pressure.
APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore,
Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam.