Rice Tariffication Bill up for signing

MANILA, Philippines — The Rice Tariffication Bill, which replaces quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice imports with tariffs to help reduce prices of the staple, is expected to be signed into law by President Duterte soon.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives last week ratified the bill that Duterte has certified as urgent.

Sen. Cynthia Villar, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, said the bill creates the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund or Rice Fund.

“When cheap rice imports start flooding the market, a program that will provide preferential attention to rice farmers, cooperatives and associations adversely affected by the tariffication should be established. We will be doing our farmers a great disservice if we let them face the challenges of a tariffied system without support mechanisms in place,” she said.

Under the bill, half of the P10-billion Rice Fund will be allocated to the Philippine Center for Post Harvest Development and Modernization (PhilMech) to provide farmers with rice farm machineries and equipment.

At least 30 percent of the fund will be released to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) to be used for the development, propagation and promotion of inbred rice seeds to rice farmers and the organization of rice farmers into seed growers associations engaged in seed production and trade. 

Ten percent will be made available in the form of credit facility with minimal interest rates and with minimum collateral requirements to rice farmers and cooperatives to be managed by the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines.

The remaining 10 percent will be set aside to fund extension services by PhilMech, Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for teaching skills on rice crop production, modern rice farming techniques, seed production, farm mechanization and knowledge/technology transfer through farm schools nationwide. 

Also under the bill, the excess rice tariff revenues and the P10-billion fixed appropriation for the Rice Fund shall be released to the Department of Agriculture (DA) and be used for providing direct financial assistance to rice farmers as compensation for the projected reduction or loss of farm income arising from the tariffication.

The measure also earmarks a portion of the excess rice tariff revenues for the titling of agricultural lands, expanded crop insurance program on rice and the crop diversification program. 

Villar said the bill also seeks to remove the factors that the Philippine Institute for Development Studies identified as barriers to the Filipino farmers’ competitiveness, which include the lack of mechanization, lack of good seeds and lack of access to cheap credit. 

She also said the measure seeks to provide a more focused function for the National Food Authority (NFA), which is to buy palay from local farmers only.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol yesterday expressed his belief that rice tariffication, which will allow the unlimited entry of the commodity in the country, would revamp the image of the NFA and remove corruption issues that hound the agency.

Even if it strips the NFA of its importation powers, Piñol, who now oversees the NFA, said Duterte’s signing of the rice tariffication and liberalization bill is a welcome development for the DA.  – With Louise Maureen Simeon