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By Angelo S. Samonte Reporter
President Gloria Arroyo lifted
the import quota on rice and corn but has not adjusted tariff rates
in a bid to entice the private sector to participate in beefing up
the country’s grain supply.
“The lifting of the import
quota will allow private importers to import rice and corn without
limit as long as they won’t hoard grains,” Presidential
Management Staff chief Cerge Remonde said. “Previously, we had a
quota, but now the President has removed it. So anybody can import
rice and corn.”
Because of increases in global
rice prices, the Philippines last month paid more than double the
usual amount for foreign rice through state importations.
The government has bought about
1.2 million tons of rice, or 68 percent of this year’s import
quota, from Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan.
Starting March up to April,
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said they are expecting an
additional 721,100 metric tons of rice to arrive from contracted
imports.
Philippine rice imports may
increase to 2.1 million tons this year, from 1.9 million tons in
2007, as rising wheat prices make bread and pasta less affordable to
poor Filipinos, boosting demand for cheaper food products, Yap
added.
The private sector is allowed to
import a maximum 300,000 metric tons of rice annually, but high
world prices and the tariff has meant that in the past two years
less than 10 percent of that volume has been bought by private
traders.
Some skeptical
Meanwhile, the Rice Watch and
Action Network (R1), a coalition of farmers and nongovernment
organizations, said the lifting of the import tariff on rice and
corn will not have much impact on the current retail prices,
especially rice.
The group said since the
government has not adjusted the taxes on rice imports, private
importers will remain reluctant to import given the high prices of
grains in the global market.
The lifting of the quota, it
added, is also superfluous because the government has been importing
beyond the 200,000 yearly import quota.
“If the government really wants
to stabilize rice prices, the NFA [National Food Authority] should
heavily subsidize importations if it could afford to pay more. But
it will [pay more] at the expense of taxpayers and the NFA would be
selling rice at a loss,” the group said.
It raised the alarm on rice
importation by the private sector, arguing that liberalizing the
policy on rice importation will lead to more abuse of it.
Instead of allowing the private
sector to bring in more rice, the group said the government should
support genuine farmers’ groups to import so they could recoup
their losses from shortfalls in their productions.
Amid talks on a looming food
crisis, Remonde assured consumers that there is no food crisis now.
“There’s no problem for the Philippines because we have enough
rice stocks although [food crisis] is a global concern,” he said.
He also appealed to all sectors
especially the opposition to cooperate with the government on the
food issue instead of taking advantage of the situation to enrage
the people.
“All issues relating to food
supply are being considered by the President. Suggestions to the NFA
are welcome. The government has been monitoring the prices of rice
and other basic commodities,” Remonde said.
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