The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has collected P14.3 billion in duties from 2.18 million metric tons (MT) of rice shipments entering the country from January 1 to October 8 this year.

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said in his report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that revenues from rice imports during this period came from shipments worth a combined amount of P40.81 billion.

Preliminary data show that import duties from Jan. 1 to Oct. 8 rose by 3.2 percent from P13.84 billion during the same period in 2020.

The average valuation of rice for this period only slightly increased from P18,867 per MT in 2020 to P18,898 per MT in 2021, Guerrero said during a recent Department of Finance (DOF) executive committee (Execom) meeting.

“Due to the continuous decline of the price of rice in the world market since May 2021, average value of rice per metric ton increased by only 0.2 percent versus last year,” Guerrero said.

Import duties collected from rice imports beginning March 5, 2019 go to the annual P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) as provided under Republic Act (RA) No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

The RCEF is used to finance programs that will sharpen the competitiveness of palay growers by way of providing them easy access to fertilizer, farm machinery and equipment, high-yield seeds and cheap credit; and offering skills training programs on farm mechanization and modern farming techniques.

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