Agriculture group wants government to impose safeguard duties on rice

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) has urged President Marcos to impose special safeguards on rice imports to protect local farmers from the ill effects of potential import surges following the reduction of tariffs to 15 percent.

In an open letter to Marcos, PCAFI said the implementation of the special rice safeguard as provided under the rice tariffication law (RTL) would reassure the local rice sector of adequate protection in times of import surges.

“This means determining the volume or price triggers, as the case may be, as soon as possible,” PCAFI president Danilo Fausto said in the letter released to the media yesterday.

“The last administration, ignoring the said mandatory provision, did not even bother to compute for either one,” Fausto added.

Under Section 10 of the RTL, the government must impose a special safeguard duty (SSG) on rice imports to protect local industry from sudden or extreme price fluctuations.

The implementation of the SSG requires the determination of a trigger volume or a trigger price. The government can impose additional duties on imports whose value falls below a trigger price or when the volume of imports hits the established threshold.

Under Republic Act 8800 or the Safeguard Measures Act, the agriculture secretary can impose motu proprio the SSG on rice imports once the conditions set forth in the laws are satisfied.

PCAFI also proposed that the government mobilize more financial resources to the agriculture sector through a program of enhanced guarantees for credit and insurance for farmers and millers.

The national government should also engage local governments directly procure from their respective farmers and cooperatives especially during times of surplus or market failure.

The group recommended that the financial and storage capacity of the National Food Authority be expanded to accommodate more local palay production.