ALBAY 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda said the Department of Finance’s (DOF) proposal to reduce the 35-percent rice import tariff rates could bring down the price of imported rice by as much as P6 per kilo.
Salceda said the temporary reduction of rice import tariffs to 10 percent is a “viable solution” for present rice price issues.
Salceda said the decision is “best left to the President” and his power to adjust tariff rates when Congress is not in session, noting that the legislature only has three weeks left before it goes on a month-long break.
“In general, I am supportive of ensuring that we have all the options necessary to meet our local demand and reduce the consumer price of rice,” he said.
The tariff reduction would also not compromise the implementation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program since the PHP10 billion in tariff revenues required to fund them have already been met by this year’s collections, Salceda noted.
Salceda suggested that the rice tariff reduction should be accompanied by more aggressive palay buying operations by the National Food Authority (NFA) to ensure that the surge in imports does not unduly depress farmgate prices.
He, however, reiterated that the long-term and sustainable solution is still to produce more rice domestically in a way that is “resilient” to climate risks.
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