Rice Tariffication Law amendment to temper rice prices

FILE PHOTO: Rice vendor Eddie Pascual, 58, wait for his usual clients at his rice stall in Marikina Public Market on Monday, June 10, 2024. The NEDA board has agreed to cut tariff on rice to 15 percent from 35 percent to help bring down the proce of rice to 29 a kilo. Pascual express his reservation that the move will lower the price of rice per kilo. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

The Department of Agriculture (DA) and industry stakeholders lauded the signing of Republic Act No. 12078, which amended the law lifting import restrictions and increasing the allocation of the rice fund to P30 billion.

On the sidelines of the ceremonial signing of the law on Monday, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the amended Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) would lower retail rice prices in the country.

Tiu Laurel said (translated from Filipino), “In the long run, it should be possible to bring down the price of rice because with the increased funding and longer validity of the law, it would be more efficient and we will be producing more.”

He also said this would greatly help curtail smuggling as the DA’s regulatory power would be strengthened since they are allowed to inspect warehouses to get accurate data on local inventory.

It would be a big help in curbing smuggling activities, he added, noting that the government has already curtailed some of those activities by reforming policies importation and declaration of imported goods.

The Anti-Agricultural Sabotage Act signed by President Marcos last September considers smuggling and hoarding of agricultural products as economic sabotage when the value of goods exceeds P10 million.

The law classifies smuggling, hoarding and cartel operations involving agricultural products as economic sabotage.

Tiu Laurel said aside from the inclusion of soil rehabilitation and the increased budget for irrigation, the additional investments provided under the amended RTL would be felt in one or two years.

The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (Pcafi) welcomed the higher DA budget allocation but urged government agencies to ensure the effective implementation.

“It is always welcome. The problem is the devil is in the implementation, and that’s what we should look at because of the experiences in the past; you will see COA (Commission on Audit) audit reports on how they performed in terms of the utilization of the funds that was given to the different agencies,” Pcafi president Danilo Fausto said in an informal gathering with the media on Monday.