Philippine farmers seek 30% safeguard duty on rice imports

The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) and the Magsasaka Party-list have urged the Tariff Commission to impose a 30% definitive safeguard duty on rice imports. The groups also called for a modified minimum access volume (MAV) system that would allow the government to more actively manage import entries, in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. The FFF stated that a 30% safeguard duty, in addition to the current 15% tariff, would help address the issue of rice oversupply. Argel Joseph Cabatbat, Chairman of the Magsasaka Party-list, noted that rice bought from Vietnam at $450 FOB (free-on-board) with a 15% tariff is estimated to result in a landed cost of around P34 per kilogram wholesale. He added that with the suggested safeguard duty, the total cost would equal the wholesale price of local rice sourced from farmers’ palay (unmilled rice) bought at P25 per kilo. Raul Q. Montemayor, National Manager of the FFF, acknowledged the necessity of rice imports due to insufficient domestic production. However, he stated, “The problem is that we are importing much more than we need. This results in oversupply which in turn brings down palay prices for farmers.” Both the FFF and Magsasaka Party-list highlighted the significant increase in rice imports since the passage of the Rice Tariffication Law in 2019. They reported that shipments have tripled to an average of 3.446 million tons per year, compared to the average imports in the years preceding the law. Citing the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the groups indicated that imports have averaged 23.5% of the total rice requirement, doubling the rate observed between 2015 and 2018. Imports in 2022 and 2024, in particular, reportedly rose by 37% or more over the average volume of imports in the three years preceding those periods. The FFF and Magsasaka Party-list anticipate an even larger import surge this year, with arrivals in the first six months already reaching 2.9 million tons, accounting for nearly 83% of the average annual arrivals over the last seven years. The groups informed the Tariff Commission that import surges, especially during peak harvest seasons, have caused farmers’ incomes to decrease by approximately P50 billion annually in real terms since the rice tariffication law took effect. According to the PSA, this has led to a shrinkage in the market share of domestic rice farmers by 14.5% to an average of 76.5% since the law’s passage, down from about 89.5% prior to its enactment.