BIR collected nearly P6B from rice import tariffs —DOF

The government has collected nearly P6 billion in tariffs in the past four months the Rice Tariffication Law has been implemented, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Thursday.

The DOF’s attached agency, the Bureau of Customs (BOC), has so far collected P5.9 billion from some 1.43 million metric tons (MT) of rice imported by private traders, the department said in a statement.

The Rice Tariffication Act was signed into law last February, removing quantitative restrictions on rice and imposing a 35% tariff on imports from Southeast Asia.

The law officially took effect on March 5, after the mandatory having been published in a national publication last February.

“A report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III by Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero revealed that the BOC collected the highest amount of rice import tariffs from the Subic Bay port at P1.37 billion,” the DOF said.

This was followed by the Port of Manila with P978.51 million, the Manila International Container Port with P942.76 million, the Port of Cagayan de Oro with P754.13 million, and the Port of Davao with P703.93 million.

Earlier on Thursday, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the country’s gross domestic product is expected to gain an additional 0.44 percentage point from the Rice Tariffication Law.

For local farmers, the law earmarked P10 billion for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, of which P5 billion went to farm mechanization and P3 billion to buying seedlings.

The fund intends to ensure that rice imports would not drown out the agriculture sector and rob farmers of their livelihood. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News