Marc Steven P.
Gapuz 12-Einstein 03/15/2023
The Philippine Rice Tariffication Law: Implication and Issues
By: Annette M. Tobias - FFTC Agricultural Policy Platform (FFTC-AP)
According to Tobias A. et al., (2011) rice is highly political commodity because
it is the country’s main staple. It has always been the center of government
agricultural policies. The focal points of the policies revolve around prompting food
self-sufficiency, providing high income to rice farmers while making prices affordable
to the consuming public.
The Philippine's membership to WTO for 24 years aimed to counter the
impact of the expected influx of cheap rice imports. The country apparently has been
extending protection primarily to safeguard the local rice farmers from increased
competition of imported rice. Another reason the Philippines had been pushing for
two-year extension of the restriction is to achieve rice self-sufficient by 2020.
However, given that QR on rice shall be retained, consumers shall continue to bear
the burden of overprice, with the poorest households bearing the burden. Based on
the 2012 Family Income and Expenditure Survey, the richest 20% of households
only devote 3% of their spending on rice while poorer income groups tend to allocate
greater share for rice (PIDS, 2012)
The Rice Tariffication Law titled “An act liberalizing the importation,
exportation, and trading of rice, lifting for the purpose the quantitative restriction on
rice, and for other purposes” was signed into law by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
on February 14, 2019. This is also known as the Rice Liberalization Act or Republic
Act No. 11203, which amends the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996 that imposed
tariff to agricultural imports except for rice. Primarily, the law aims to lift the
quantitative restriction (QR) on rice imports and replace it with general tariff. The
Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996 serves as the Philippines Government’s
compliance to our obligation to WTO, lifting QRs and imposing tariff to agricultural
products. The law aims to protect local farmers from the entry of more imported d
rice into the country through the imposition of 35% tariff on rice coming from the
member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) like
Thailand and Vietnam. For non-ASEAN countries, 40% tariff is imposed. The
collected tariffs will be used to fun mass irrigation, warehousing, and rice research.
According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), rice
tariffication will directly benefit farmers and the poor through lower rice prices and
increased government assistance to the agricultural sector. The newly-signed law
provides for the establishment of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund
(RCEF), which will pipe in Php, 10 billion annually to the rice sector for the nest six
years. The RCEF is allocated for the procurement of farm machinery and equipment,
rice development, propagation, as well as expanded rice credit and extension
services.
References:
Tobias A. (2019) The Philippine Rice Tariffication Law: Implication and Issue,
Food and Fertilization Technology Center for the ASEAN and Pacific Region,
[Link], Retrieved March 14, 2023, from
[Link]