Bicam report on rice tariffication bill ratified by Senate

The Senate adopted and ratified Wednesday the bicameral conference committee report on the bill seeking to lift quantitative restrictions on rice and allow private traders to import the commodity from countries of their choice.

Under the reconciled bill, the private sector will be allowed to import rice as long as they have secured a phytosanitary permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry and pay the 35% tariff for shipments from neighbors in Southeast Asia.

It will earmark P10 billion for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement fund, of which P5 billion will be allotted to farm mechanization and P3 billion to seedlings. The fund intends to ensure that rice imports won’t drown out the agriculture sector and rob farmers of their livelihood.

Senator Cynthia Villar, committee on agriculture and food chairperson, said the mechanization fund will provide cooperatives and farmers’ groups with tractors, transplanters, harvesters, dryers, and milling equipment.

The goal is to improve farmers’ yield per hectare and facilitate the flow of their produce to markets,  she said.

The bill also mandates the National Food Authority to buy rice from local farmers. —LDF, GMA News