Rice Tariff Shortfall Strains Fund for Local Agriculture

MANILA, Philippines — The Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD), a think tank of the Philippine Congress, has flagged a persistent shortfall in rice tariff collections, warning of additional strain on the government's fiscal space. The revenue gap would necessitate plugging the funding for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) from other sources. Since 2019, the government has earmarked collected tariffs from imported rice for the development and modernization of the local rice industry through RCEF. The enactment of Republic Act 12078 has guaranteed an annual RCEF budget of P30 billion, an increase from P10 billion, regardless of tariff collection levels. However, the law stipulates that any shortfall would be sourced from the existing budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA). According to a recent CPBRD report, rice tariff collections declined to P13.71 billion in 2025, falling substantially below the P30 billion RCEF allocation. This decline is attributed to a record-low tariff rate of 15 percent on rice imports and the implementation of an import ban last year. The Marcos administration had previously slashed rice tariffs to allow cheaper foreign rice imports to curb domestic price increases, but later suspended importation to protect local farmers' incomes, which had suffered from falling palay prices due to higher import volumes in prior years. CPBRD had previously raised concerns that sourcing the shortfall from the DA budget would lead to RCEF "competing" with allocations for the department's regular programs and projects, potentially at the expense of other agricultural sub-sectors like high-value crops, poultry, and livestock. The P30-billion RCEF supports farm mechanization, high-quality seed production, cash assistance, and farmer training. Meanwhile, preliminary Bureau of Customs data shows that rice tariff collections from January to August this year reached P14.28 billion, a nearly 19 percent increase from the approximately P12 billion collected in the same period last year. This uptick is supported by a quarter annual growth in import volume and a weaker exchange rate, despite persistent low tariff rates and softer global rice prices. However, industry sources indicate that it would be impossible for rice tariff collections to reach P30 billion this year. Source: Philstar Business