NEDA reiterates push for review of RA 8178

The National Economic and Development Authority is reiterating its push for the removal of quantitative restrictions (QR) and imposition of tariffs on rice imports.

“The revenue from the 35 percent tariff can be used to supplement available government funds to develop the agriculture sector and bring it at par with our Asean counterparts,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said in a statement.

NEDA is pushing for the amendment of the Republic Act 8178 or the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996 to pave the way for the QR removal.

NEDA said that in order to be competitive, the country's riceproducing provinces should reduce the cost of rice production by mechanizing labor-intensive farm activities, using new and appropriate technologies and applying farm management practices.

Apart from these, NEDA suggested measures to boost competitiveness, including constructing more irrigation systems, addressing gaps in infrastructure connectivity, improving farmers’ access to affordable credit insurance, and adopting measures to enhance agriculture’s resilience to climate change, among others.

The QR on rice imports is a special privilege granted by the World Trade Organization (WTO), which has been extended three times since it was first imposed in 1995. Last April 2017, before the termination of the WTO Special Treatment on rice, President Duterte issued Executive Order 23 retaining the MAV level of 805,200 MT and extending the lower tariff rates imposed on some commodities for three years or until the Agricultural Tariffication Law is amended.

Earlier, the Department of Finance said replacing the QR system with a tariff system would cut retail rice prices by about P7 per kilo.

The reduction in rice prices would be beneficial to the majority of the poor as they spend at least 20 percent of their household budget on the staple, he said.

The DOF said this would introduce competitive pricing to the market for rice while the tariff revenue will be given to the affected farmers to boost their productivity or help them switch to highvalue crops.

The Philippine government intends not to apply for another extension of the QR system by the WTO.