‘PHL HAS 3 OPTIONS ON RICE IMPORTS WITHOUT BREACHING WTO RULES’
THE Duterte administration has three options to regulate rice importation without violating existing rules of the World Trade Organization and the Rice Tariffication Law, the head of the Senate’s Economic Affairs committee said. Sen. Imee Marcos made the assurance at the Senate joint hearing of the Agriculture, Agrarian Reform and Ways and Means committees, convened to tackle Senate Resolution 536 seeking to improve rice importation procedures.
“There are non-trade measures that are recognized by WTO [ World Trade Organization], so we should not use as excuse that we will be in breach of WTO,” the senator pointed out, speaking partly in Filipino.
For instance, Marcos cited their request for a 90- day prohibition on imports before harvest, to protect local farmers from a glut that could trigger a plunge in prices. She said this could be presented as a “specific seasonal ban that we need to develop and support depressed rural communities whose main income derives form rice.” When it is “this specific, the WTO cannot have an issue with that. That’s not NTB [non-tariff barrier],” she explained.
“Kaya wag tayong papa- andaran ng kung sino na bawal ‘yan. Hindi ‘yan bawal. Ilalagay natin na very specific for the protection and development of rural [communities]. Magaling po kayo dyan, kayang-kaya [Let’s not be dissuaded by socalled experts; that’s not prohibited. You’re good at presenting that].”
Marcos also cited an issue raised by committee chairwoman Cynthia A. Villar on “phytosanitary invocation” by other countries as a move to restrict Philippine exports.
“Our neighbors are so good at this. That’s why there’s what people call diplomatic terrorism or trade terrorism . . . That was done with our banana, our pineapple. Why can’t we do it with rice [imports]? Anyway, we know some of the rice exported here had defects. We’ve seen how some shipments looked,” Marcos added.
Moreover, Marcos brought up the issue on “technical barriers to trade,” or TBT, that involved methods like product testing and certification procedures applied to assess that an exported product meets foreign regulations.
“We can always invoke that, those technical barriers to trade, na hindi pwede kasi di makapasok, may bagyo, may transport issues [that some shipments can’t be allowed because of weather or transport issues],” she said, adding: “Some countries are good at invoking that. Why then are we so open, we’ve not invoked TBT even once?”
The senator stressed these are the three issues the Duterte government trade representatives can invoke, adding that the seasonal prohibition on rice im
ports, which prevents importation for five months, is not in breach of the WTO and is allowed under the rice tariffication law.
Villar earlier consulted the DA on the harvest season for rice and determined that the months of February, March, April, July, August, September and October were the best times to prevent importation. SPSICS for rice import are only valid for 60 days upon issuance.
Vicera said the target is to see the arrival of imported rice during the lean months of January, February, July and August.
Earlier, economists expressed concern regarding seasonal importation with some saying that these could become Technical Barriers to Trade ( TBT) or NonTariff Barriers (NTBS) rather than Non-tariff Measures (NTMS).
Former University of the Philippines School of Economics Dean Ramon L. Clarete explained that NTMS have valid reasons for using them. But NTBS may appear as NTMS but without valid reason for using them.
“We are going to manage rather than stop. We are going to manage the importation,” DA Undersecretary Rodolfo Vicerra said.
Last Monday, senators manifested not to import commodities during their main harvest season of local output. This includes rice, corn, feed wheat, and whole chicken.