HOUSE WANTS OVERSIGHT PANEL FOR RICE TARIFF LAW; HEARINGS SET ON DRAFT I.R.R.
THE leadership of the House of Representatives on Tuesday said it will convene an oversight committee to ensure the proper implementation of a new law that replaced the caps on rice imports with tariffs.
The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) also announced on Tuesday that the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 11203 will soon be subjected to a nationwide consultation.
Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said an oversight committee will ensure that the provisions of the law are implemented.
“The chairman [of agriculture committee] is [Jose] Panganiban [of AnacIP party-list] and he was the sponsor [of the measure in the lower chamber]. So I will ask his ideas but I think it will be good, because it’s an important bill and now we’ll make sure it’s implemented,” Arroyo said in an interview.
“So I suppose the implementation details and what to do will depend on Chairman Panganiban. I’ll talk to him. I’ll ask him about it,” she added.
Panganiban confirmed the convening of the oversight committee. As chairman of the agriculture committee, he will head the oversight committee.
“I will make sure that in the drafting of the IRR the interest of the rice farmers will not be left behind. I am the chairman of the oversight committee,” he told the BusinessMirror via SMS.
Arroyo called for the proper implementation of RA 11203, or the Rice Tariffication Act, to further cut the country’s inflation rate.
The implementation of the law is expected to reduce the price of rice, an important commodity for the poor.
Panganiban also said “due care” should be applied in writing the law’s IRR so that its primary goals are met.
He urged the government to ensure that the“safety net for local farmers”in the form of a fund supposed to be set aside to improve the rice sector is used properly.
“The P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund was included in the law as a safety net—to protect our own farmers and enable them to become more competitive,” said Panganiban.
Draft IRR
SoCIoECoNoMIC Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said the draft IRR of the rice tariffication law will be submitted for public consultation “in the coming days.”
The first draft of the IRR formulated during a two-day workshop last week was presented to the National Food Authority (NFA) Council on February 18, 2019. The revised IRR will be the one subjected to public consultation.
In anticipation of the signing of the bill, Pernia said government agencies started preparing for its implementation as early as January. Technical working groups were created to discuss key provisions of the bill and provide inputs to the draft IRR.
The IRR Drafting Committee has members from the Neda, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Agriculture (DA) and other concerned government agencies.
The draft IRR contains provisions on the removal of NFA’s regulatory powers and the streamlining of import requirements. It also provides details on the necessary institutional arrangements that will enhance competitiveness and institute safety nets to assist local farmers affected by the removal of the QR on rice imports.
“Anyone, whether a small or a big trader, can now import as long as they have secured a sanitary phytosanitary clearance from the DA and pay the corresponding tariff. By removing NFA’s decades-old monopoly on rice importation, we promote greater participation of the private sector and enhance competition in the market,”Pernia said in a statement.
President Duterte signed the Rice Tariffication Act on February 14. It amended the 20-year old Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996 and replaced the quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice imports with a tariff.
The law also provided safeguards to address the concerns of farmers. These include RCEF, which will provide key interventions to support farmers and enhance their competitiveness and profitability, including farm machinery and equipment to improve farm operations rice seed development, propagation, and promotion, expanded rice credit and extension services.
A portion of the rice tariff revenues in excess of P10 billion will be used to provide direct financial assistance to rice farmers affected by the removal of the QR and for diversification to high-value crops.
A mandatory review of the RCEF will be conducted by Congress on the sixth year.
Pernia said the law also grants the President the power to increase, reduce, revise or adjust existing tariff rates to safeguard Filipino farmers. In case of imminent danger of rice shortage, the bill empowers the President, for a limited period and for a specified volume, to allow importation at lower tariff rates for the benefit of consumers.
The law enables the President to increase the applied tariff to more than 100 percent, but not to exceed the specified bound rate, if warranted. The bound rate in the newly signed law is 180 percent.
Pernia said a special safeguard duty on rice will be imposed to protect the rice industry from sudden or extreme price fluctuations.
A safeguard duty is a temporary increase in import duty of an agricultural product to deal with import surges or price falls, under the World Trade organization Agreement on Agriculture.