Senator Juan Edgardo Angara on Sunday expressed support for the proposed rice tariffication law, which seeks to address rice supply issues in the country.
“There should be a clear policy regarding rice. It is important to pass the proposal because under it, not only those accredited by the National Food Authority can import rice,” said Angara, who has been named the new president of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, the party founded by his late father, former Senate president Edgardo Angara.
Senate Bill No. 1998 replaces the quantitative import restriction on rice with tariffs and lifts the quantitative exports restrictions on rice.
Under the bill, a 35 percent duty will be imposed on imports coming from member-countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations while a 50 percent duty will be slapped for imports coming from non-ASEAN states.
The measure has been certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Economic managers claimed that liberalizing rice imports will reduce the retail price of rice by P4 to P7 per kilo and reduce inflation rate by 0.4 percentage points.
A key feature of the bill is the creation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund or the Rice Fund consisting of an initial appropriation of P10 billion sourced from the national budget until such time that there is enough collection from tariff.
