Farmer groups ask government to grant NFA tariff exemption

Farmer groups are urging the National Government to exempt the National Food Authority (NFA) from paying tariff on its rice importations. In a resolution addressed to President Arroyo, Senate President Franklin Drilon, Senators Ramon Magsaysay, Jr. and Manuel Villar, House Speaker Jose de Venecia and Rep. Benasing Macarambon, farmer organizations said the NFA should be made as the sole rice importing agency and must be exempted from tariff obligations that are taking a toll on its financial condition.

The Grains Retailers Association (GRECON) and Provincial Farmers Action Council (PFAC) nationwide said sparing the NFA from the tax burden will enable the agency to use that money to improve its finances and make it more effective in performing its functions.

NFA Administrator Gregorio Tan Jr. said that for this year, the agency was assessed P14 billion in tariff for some 1.8 million metric tons of rice imports worth to P29 billion.

Thus far the NFA has paid P5.5 million. Tan said the agency is now asking the National Government to treat the balance or remaining tariffs as a tax subsidy.

This would be a non-cash transaction allowed earlier by the inter-agency Development Budget and Coordinating Council wherein non-cash collections can be treated as part of the tax collections of the Bureau of Customs.

The farmers said the NFA imports rice to assure the supply of rice during emergencies and calamities. Thus, it should not be required to pay tariff duties for rice importation, they said. Instead, they said the NFA should focus its resources on financing its palay buying operations and other pro-poor projects.

The farmers are also asking government to abandon any move to abolish or privatize the food agency, saying this will only threaten the entire food industry.

"The NFA remains an important agency whose functions of food security and price stabilization continue to benefit every Filipino especially the farmers, retailers and ordinary consumers," the farmers’ resolution stated.