BOC collection from rice imports up 22% in 2021
By CHINO S. LEYCO
Government collection of duties from imported rice jumped 22 percent to P18.9 billion in 2021, but it incurred foregone revenues on pork tariff cuts, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
Citing reports from the Bureau of Customs, the DOF reported Tuesday, Feb. 8, that the government generated P18.9 billion in duties from rice imports from January to December last year, higher by 22 percent than the P15.5 billion in the previous year.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero reported to the DOF that P10 billion of the import duties collected from rice will go to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) as provided under Republic Act (RA) No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).
The RCEF is used to finance programs that aims to sharpen the competitiveness of palay growers by way of providing them easy access to fertilizer, farm machinery and equipment, high-yield seeds and cheap credit.
Last October, Guerrero said the Customs was able to collect additional rice duties after the agency gave “particular attention" to the classification, quantity and weight of the imports whenever rice shipments came in.
Guerrero said that for January to October 15, 2021 alone, the average valuation of rice increased by 6.5 percent or P1,240 per metric ton.
Meanwhile, Guerrero said the Customs incurred an estimated P4 billion in foregone revenue due to President Duterte’s executive orders that lowered pork import tariffs and increased the allowable import volumes of the meat.
These directives were meant to quell inflation by boosting the supply of pork and stabilizing its retail prices in the domestic market after the outbreak of the Asian Swine Fever (ASF) had hurt domestic hog production.
Between April 9, 2021 to January 28, 2022, the bureau collected only P3.75 billion from a total volume of 242 million kilograms of imported pork.
EO 128, which lowered pork import tariffs to 5 percent within its minimum access volume (MAV) and 15 percent outside MAV for the first three months, took effect from April 7 to May 14.
EO 134, which superseded EO 128, set tariffs on pork imports under the MAV to 10 percent for the first three months, nd 15 percent in the next nine months.
For imports outside the minimum access volume, the tariff rates were set at 20 percent for the first three months and 25 percent in the succeeding nine months.