RICE TARIFF collections amounted to P18.9 billion in 2021, the Department of Finance (DoF) said on Tuesday, giving the government a surplus of P8.9 billion over and above the P10 billion that must be automatically appropriated from tariffs for farm modernization.

The 2021 total was up 22% from a year earlier, Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero said in a report to the DoF.

The government deregulated the rice market, allowing private parties to import rice while paying a 35% tariff on Southeast Asian grain. The tariffs generated provide P10 billion a year to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, a modernization program authorized by Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law.

Collections beyond P10 billion will be added to the national budget of the following year. The authorized uses of the surplus include financial aid to rice farmers, the titling of agricultural land, the expansion of crop insurance coverage and the promotion of crop diversification.

The Department of Agriculture has reported that RCEF has helped boost rice farmer earnings while reducing production costs.

“We have posted record harvests for the last two years at 19.2 million metric tons (MMT) in 2020 and 19.96 MMT in 2021,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr. Guerrero said collections from pork imports between April 9, 2021 and Jan. 28 totaled P3.75 billion. Pork import volume was 242 million kilograms.

“The bureau, however, estimates that it had foregone P4 billion in revenue during this period as a result of the Presidential directives lowering the import tariffs on pork,” the DoF said.

In April, the government temporarily lowered pork import tariffs and increased the allowable import volumes of the meat to quell elevated inflation levels after the hog population was decimated by an outbreak of African Swine Fever.

The Bureau of Customs collected P645.77 billion in 2021, exceeding its goal by 4.7%. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

SOURCE: https://www.bworldonline.com