As much as P7.7 billion worth of tariffs have been lost last year due to the undervaluation of rice imports, according to the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF).
The group cited data from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) showing rice imports totaling 3.85 million metric tons (MT) last year that importers declared prices 28 percent lower than the average reference price.
FFF particularly noted the volume as the highest since the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) was enacted in 2019.
“Landed costs were declared as P16.94 per kilogram in 2022. These should have been around P23.62 on the average, based on Bureau of Customs rates. If we apply the 35 percent tariff to these declared values, the importers, in effect, shortchanged the BOC by P2.34 for every kilogram they brought into the country,” said Raul Montemayor, FFF national manager.
Montemayor said the degree of undervaluation has consistently deteriorated over the years as its average rate in 2019 stood at only 15 percent.
“Importers are now becoming bolder and greedier and it seems the BOC is condoning, if not turning a blind eye to the practice of undervaluation. This is happening not only with rice but also with most other commodities like meat and vegetables,” Montemayor said.
The federation said rice shipments from Pakistan were severely undervalued by 37 percent even though the government already cut the tariff from non-ASEAN countries to 35, to diversify the country’s sources.
Montemayor said the government must act decisively on the undervaluation to generate much needed revenue for the government’s support program for farmers as the Rice Tariffication Law where tariff from rice imports in excess of P10 billion in any year is set aside as cash transfers for farmers adversely affected by imports.
The federation reiterated its call for a review of the RTL considering that consumer retail prices have not dropped despite the influx of imports and the decline in the farm gate price of local produce from farmers.
Data from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) show a slightly lower rice imports last year at 3.83 million MT compared to BOC figures.
BPI data also show the bulk of rice imports last year came from Vietnam equal to 3.18 million MT or 83 percent, followed by Myanmar with 244,738.18 MT or 6.4 percent, Pakistan with 198,912.68 MT or 5.2 percent and Thailand with 183,230.38 MT or 4.79 percent.
The remaining 20,952.99 MT or 0.55 percent were sourced from China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Spain.
