The administration of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte will bar private traders from importing rice as it aims to stamp out rampant smuggling of the grain, incoming Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel “Manny” Piñol said yesterday.

The task of importing rice to ensure food security will now be solely in the hands of the state grains agency, the National Food Authority (NFA), said Piñol, a former governor of North Cotabato, in a radio interview after the announcement of his appointment by Duterte on Tuesday.

Rice imports are politically sensitive in the Philippines, with the government pushing to keep tariffs high to protect local farmers but also sometimes needing to quickly import thousands of tons to ensure adequate domestic supplies.

“The directive of our president-elect is that there will be no more rice importation by the private sector. It will only be the NFA. And I can assure the Filipino people that rice smuggling will be stopped,” said Piñol, former senior desk editor of Manila Bulletin’s English tabloid Tempo.

Private traders are currently allowed to bring in annual shipments of up to 805,200 tons with a 35 percent tariff.

Rice importation is regulated by the NFA, which issues import permits and allocations to private traders via auctions, a practice prone to abuse because importers with permits can offer other importers and brokers the use of their permits for a fee.

In 2014, the Philippines moved to loosen restrictions on rice imports by reducing tariffs to 35 percent from 40 percent and increasing the volume of annual shipments covered by such tariffs to 805,200 tons from 350,000 tons.

Last week, Duterte’s campaign spokesman Peter Laviña told Reuters a plan by the incumbent government to import an additional 500,000 tons of rice this year to beef up state reserves would be reviewed.

Laviña also said the new administration preferred to enter into the more transparent government-to-government deals in transacting rice imports.

The Philippines regularly imports more than a million tons a year of the food staple to meet demand from its growing population. Vietnam is the country’s main supplier, though Thailand also usually ships in some rice.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Reuters

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]