Tariff on imported rice to stay at 15% until Feb.

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said the tariff on imported rice from most favored nations  will remain at 15% until February, with global rice prices not yet at levels that would trigger a higher duty.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel V. de Mesa told reporters on Wednesday that the benchmark price that will warrant raising the tariff to 20% is $367 per metric ton (MT).

“To trigger a higher 20% tariff, international rice prices must breach the trigger price of $367 per metric ton. Since this has not happened, we have not discussed it yet,” he said.

Under the implementing guidelines of Executive Order (EO) No. 105, rice imports starting this year are subject to a “flexible” tariff scheme that allows duties to rise or fall depending on global prices. The EO permits tariff adjustments in increments of five percentage points, with rates set at a minimum of 15% and a maximum of 35%.

Tariff adjustments are based on the monthly average price of Vietnam 5% broken rice, the grade that accounts for the bulk of Philippine rice imports, as reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Mr. De Mesa said the FAO’s December price for Vietnam 5% broken rice was $361.3 per metric ton.

He added that the DA decided to retain the P43-per-kilo maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for imported rice, which was set in July. The DA had earlier considered raising the MSRP to P45 per kilo if tariffs were to rise to 20%.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Plant Industry reported that between Jan. 1 and 22, around 248,000 MT of imported rice entered the country.

“In January last year, 279,000 MT of imported rice came in. So, for this month (so far), it’s almost the same volume,” Mr. De Mesa said.

He also clarified that the 300,000 MT of rice expected to arrive by the end of February is separate from the projected January import volume. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel