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May 29, 2019

Rice Tariffication Law

Rice Tariffication Law gets rid of smugglers: Lambino
Philippine News Agency: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1063420

MANILA -- With the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law starts on March 5, the
national government has assured that there will be no more smuggling of the staple food
as importation will be open to everybody.

"Rice tariffication will eliminate rice smugglers as anyone can now import rice, the
importer just needs to get sanitary and phytosanitary permit from the Bureau of Plant
Industry (BPI) under the new law," said Finance Assistant Secretary Tony Lambino at the
Pandesal Forum on Friday. Lambino said the main objective in opening up rice
importation will benefit more than 100 million Filipino rice consumers as prices are
estimated to go down by PHP2 to PHP7 per kilo. He also clarified that under the Rice
Tariffication Law, importation needs no implementing rules and regulations (IRR) as
importers need to get the necessary permits to ensure that the imported rice is of good
quality.

Meanwhile, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) president Rosendo So said the

National Food Authority (NFA) imported 1.96 million metric tons (MT) with no tariff in 2018.

In January this year, the NFA again imported 555,696 MT but So said "this did not benefit
the Filipino consumers as the price of rice was still high." With the new law, he said, all
rice importers will have to pay tariff and the money collected will be given back to the
farmers in the form of interventions or assistance.

On the other hand, Lambino said despite lifting the quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice,
the most important role of the NFA under the new law is on "emergency buffer stocking"
to ensure rice availability in calamity-hit areas. "The NFA has an important role under the
new law which is the emergency buffer stocking role, para kung may masalanta sa kahit
saang lugar sa Pilipinas ay mayroong emergency stock," he said. "The challenge for the
NFA is to manage the (emergency) buffer stock well and to be logistics expert,
meaning dapat makarating ang bigas doon sa mga lugar na pinaka nangangailangan (the
supply should reach those who need them the most)," he added. Lambino also admitted
that the rice trade was "mismanaged" and this resulted in debt of PHP145 billion by the
NFA.

"The inefficiency in the rice trade has resulted in two things -- one, our farmers have not
been supported to the level that they shoud be. Second, nagkautang ang taongbayan (the
country was in debt) as of the latest count PHP145 billion due to NFA's inefficient
management of rice trade," he noted. Because of the Rice Tariffication Law, Lambino
said, the regulatory functions of the NFA was removed except for the emergency buffer
stocking. He, however, clarified that the NFA can still procure rice from local
producers. (PNA)

Advantages Disadvantage

 There will be an assurance that  The country will be more

the imported rice is on good dependent to the imported rice
quality because it will undergo from the other country.
necessary permits.  There will be no implementing
 Farmers will be have more rules and regulations.
interventions or assistance due
to the tariff that is collected from
the importers
 There will be a so called
“emergency buffer stocking” to
ensure that there will be rice
available in case of natural
calamities.
  There will be a price reduction.
(estimated to go down by Php 2
to Php 7 per kilo)
 Rice smugglers will be
eliminated.

The government must allocate enough budget for agriculture especially in

farming. They must motivate and give attention to the farmers. In that case, our
dependency of rice in other countries will be lessen. Importation of rice in other countries
is not that really bad but let’s consider the fact that if we have given attention of the
farmers, we will have enough supply here in our country. We have abundant natural
resources and a good climate that is suited for farming. The only problem is that the
proper allocation and usage of it,

The process in importation is much appreciated since the importers will

undergo processes. Importers needs to get sanitary and phytosanitary permit from the
Bureau of Plant Industry in order to assure that the rice imported is a good quality. This
is to protect the consumers for their safety. There are a lot of news or shall I say fake
news regarding to the rice here in our country. Some people believed that some rice are
made from plastics or styrofoam. Due to their process, customers will be more confident
to buy rice since it will undergo necessary permits.

The idea of opening up rice importation that can benefit more than 100
million Filipino rice consumers because prices will go down by Php 2 to Php 7 pesos is
good. But let’s take into consideration on the thought of the first paragraph. In other words,
there must be a balance in everything.