DESPITE the lower import volume, the government’s tariff collections from rice imports from January to April this year rose to P5.67 billion, up by 3.7 percent compared to the same period a year ago.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said they surpassed their P5.46-billion rice tariff collection in the same four-month period last year mainly through reforms in the rice valuation system.
Preliminary data presented by BOC to the Department of Finance (DOF) in a recent Executive Committee meeting showed a total of 804,360 metric tons (MT) of rice shipments worth P17 billion entered the country, representing a 9.2-percent decline from the 885,645 MT, valued at P16.4 billion, that were imported during the same period last year.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero told Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III that the average value of rice imports posted a 14-percent hike to P21,096 per MT this year from P18,508 per MT during the same period in 2020.
For April, rice tariff collection also declined by 10.2 percent this year to P1.38 billion from P1.54 billion last year, based on separate data obtained and analyzed by the BusinessMirror.
Rice import volume in April this year also posted a double-digit drop of 16.8 percent to 198,820.27 MT from 238,897.2 MT in the same month a year ago.
The year-on-year decline in monthly rice import volume and monthly rice tariff collection started in March this year.
Rice tariff collection in March plunged by 47.8 percent to P849.32 million this year from last year’s P1.63 billion.
Meanwhile, rice import volume in March this year also dived by 53.8 percent to 120,560.16 MT from 260,964.44 MT in the same month in 2020. Guerrero attributed the year-on-year decline in rice import volumes in March and April to the local harvest season.
He also said the value of rice imports fell in April because these were mostly shipments of husked rice, which has lower value than milled rice varieties.
“Well, actually, that’s better because when you import husk, you know, the darak is a by-product so that’s good for the feed industry and, of course, our millers also have work,” said Dominguez, who was a former agriculture secretary.
Tariffs collected from rice imports are used to fund the six-year P10-billion annual Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund to bankroll programs that provide farmers with high-quality seeds, machinery, easier credit access, and relevant training. This is meant to improve their productivity and become competitive.
Should annual tariff revenues from rice imports exceed P10 billion, the Rice Tariffication Law mandates earmarking the fund by Congress—and included in the national budget of the following year—for financial assistance to palay farmers, titling of agricultural lands, an expanded crop insurance program on rice, and crop diversification.
Last year, the government collected P15.47 billion in rice tariffs from 2.38 million metric tons (MMT).
In 2019, Customs collected P12.3 billion in rice tariffs from 2.03 MMT of rice imports from March to December following the passage of the law.
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