AN AGRICULTURE industry association asked the Tariff Commission to restore rice import tariffs to 35% for Southeast Asian grain, while imposing a 50% rate for all other countries of origin.

Executive Order No. 62, which reduced the tariffs to 15%, has failed to reduce rice prices, as it had been designed to do, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) Chairman Rosendo O. So said in a petition filed with the Commission.

SINAG said between July and December the tariff reduction resulted in P15 billion worth of foregone government revenue.

The Rice Tariffication Law liberalized rice imports while requiring shippers to pay tariffs, which the government then used to fund rice industry modernization.

SINAG said allocating the P15 billion to 1.5 million hectares of rice land could reduce cost of palay production by P2.9 per kilo, which is equivalent of a reduction of P5 per kilo of domestically grown rice.

It estimated revenue foregone due to EO No. 62 at P27 billion this year.

Global rice prices have fallen by $146 to $422 per metric ton, according to the group.

“This translates to a decrease of P8.54 per kilo in the global rice market, which exceeds our target reduction of P6-7/kilo through EO 62.”

SINAG spokesman Jayson H. Cainglet said via Viber that the Tariff Commission has yet to set a hearing on the petition.

Mr. Cainglet has said that the farmgate price of palay remains low at P15-16 per kilo for freshly harvested grain, which could be subject to minimal changes during the peak of the harvest.

He said traders are only willing to pay between P16 to P18 per kilo given the competition from imported rice, whose landed cost is now about P35 per kilo.

Inflation eased to 2.1% in February from 2.9% in January as rice inflation dropped to 4.9%, the sharpest decline since April 2020.

To bring down rice prices, the government has lowered tariffs and declared a food security emergency to facilitate the release of government rice stocks.

Rice imports hit a record of nearly 4.7 million MT in 2024 due to a shortfall in domestic supply.

In mid-January, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said the government does not plan to resort to imports to bring down rice prices, which he said are also caused by profiteering. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

Published Date: March 9, 2025