Tariff on rice to take effect even without IRR – DOF

The Duterte administration can begin the imposition of tariffs on rice imports next month even without the new law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR), the Department of Finance (DOF) said late Monday.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said there are clear provisions under Republic Act No. 11203, or the rice tariffication law, that allows its upfront implementation after a 15-day curing period from the date of its publication.

Dominguez explained the newly signed law by President Duterte needs to be immediately implemented to address the elevated retail prices of the country’s staple food in the local market.

One of those provisions that does not require an IRR is the imposition of a 35 percent tariff on rice imported from the ASEAN region, while 40 percent if within the minimum access volume (MAV) of 350,000 metric tons from countries outside ASEAN, and 180 percent if above the MAV and coming from a non-ASEAN country.

“There are parts of the law that are clear upfront and can be implemented earlier than the parts of the law that require an IRR to implement,” Dominguez said in a mobile phone message sent to Finance reporters.

Earlier, the National Food Authority (NFA) Council held a meeting, chaired by Dominguez, to discuss the drafting of the IRR. Its members agreed to implement RA-11203’s tariff provisions beginning March 3, but was later on corrected by the DOF to March 5.

“The heart of the reform, which tariffies rice importation with the least government intervention, will be implemented asap [as soon as possible] to bring down rice prices for more than 100 million Filipino rice consumers,” Dominguez said.

The NFA Council also approved a motion instructing the cash-strapped grains agency to submit a restructuring plan within 30 days, instead of its initial proposal of 180 days.

To date, NFA has a total outstanding debt of P145 billion due to its former money losing mandate of buying high from farmers and selling low to the consumers.

“Our objective in liberalizing rice imports is to bring down the costs of the staple. Our price is 50 percent higher than the others, including Singapore, which does not produce rice. Will it take us 180 days to effect a reduction in the cost of living our the people?” Dominguez said.

Dominguez also proposed during the NFA Council meeting that the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) determine what funds can be freed up as a result of the restructuring of the agency to ensure that farmers receive the support they need while the Rice Competiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) mandated under the rice tariffication law is still in the process of being set up.