Farmers slam economic team for rushing rice tariffication IRR

MANILA, Philippines — Local farmers slammed the government’s economic managers for their decision to fast-track the crafting of the implementing rules and regulations of the rice import liberalization law, which replaces import quantitative restrictions with tariffs.

The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) blasted the economic team for “undue haste” in finalizing the IRR of Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Import Liberalization Act.

The economic managers have set March 5 as the deadline for issuing the IRR, which is the same day the law takes effect.

However, the law actually provides for a maximum of 45 days after the law’s effectivity, or up to April 19, to complete the IRR.

“Why are they rushing the completion of the IRR? Have commitments been made to some importers? Most farmers have not heard of the Official Gazette, nor do they read newspapers, so they do not even understand what is inside the law,” FFF national manager Raul Montemayor said.

The Department of Agriculture has been ordered to immediately schedule a series of consultations in several regions from Feb. 26 to March 1 to catch up with the March 5 deadline.

The crafting of the IRR is expected to involve consultations with affected stakeholders, and to clarify specific roles and relationships of concerned government agencies, particularly the National Food Authority, whose functions have been sharply reduced.

Montemayor said the rice tariffication law has left open many questions that will need to be evaluated further and then addressed in the IRR.

“The law says NFA will now be limited to buffer stocking through local procurement and that buffer stocks can be released only during calamities and emergencies,” he said.

“Does this mean that NFA cannot anymore sell cheap rice in the market unless there is a calamity or emergency? Does this mean also that NFA will stop buying palay from farmers once it has accumulated enough buffer stocks?” Montemayor added.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) already said many stakeholders expect rice imports to increase, mainly originating from ASEAN countries.

“The rice tariffication law has also been met by strong opposition from some sectors, with legal challenges in the form of lawsuits likely in the near future,” USDA said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is expecting the law to reduce inflation by at least 0.6 percentage points this year and around 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points by 2020.

Increasing food prices, particularly rice, have been identified as a major contributor to inflation, which peaked at 6.7 percent in October 2018, the highest in almost a decade.