AFTER pork smuggling, farmers have again knocked on the doors of Congress over rice.

The Abono partylist, representing the agriculture sector, is asking the House of Representatives and the Senate to conduct an inquiry on the negotiators responsible for the negotiations on the extension of the quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice from year 2000 to June 2012.

Abono Partylist Chairman Rosendo So said Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano should explain the rice and non-rice concessions arrived at during the negotiations for 2005-2012 extension on QR for rice.

He said the agri industry was not consulted by Serrano over an issue even as the sector was used as bargaining chips in the negotiations.

So said rice concessions involving the lowering of tariff and increasing minimum access volume (MAV) on imported rice for the World Trade Organization (WTO) to grant the country an extension to the QR on rice must be probed.

So said that there are widespread allegations that the negotiations for the extension of the QR on rice is not really to help the local rice farmers but to create easy access for imported rice and frozen meat into the country.

The MAV refers to the minimum volume of farm produce allowed to enter into the Philippines at reduced tariffs while the QR allows the Philippines to impose higher tariff on rice imports beyond a certain volume to prevent the influx of cheap rice imports.

USELESS

So said the present 40 per cent tariff on imported rice is useless and does not benefit the government’s revenue raising program because rice importation by the National Food Authority (NFA) is subsidized by the Department of Finance (DOF).

“Hindi naman po iyong importer ang nagbabayad ng tariff kungdi ang DOF… Useless itong 40 percent tariff dahil hindi naman sa bulsa ng importer nanggagaling ang pambayad ng taripa. Ginigisa lang tayo sa sarili nating mantika,” So argued.

He added that farmers are “being fooled” by policymakers by saying that if the QR on rice is not extended, the local rice industry will collapse because of the possibility of a surge in the entry of cheap imported rice.

“What they are telling the farmers is false that imported rice would flood the Philippines if the extension on QR on rice would not push through because it is only the NFA that imports rice and the volume of imports is based on stock inventory,” he said.

He cited that MAV for rice started with 57,730 metric tons with 50 per cent tariff in 1995 up to 1999 and it is now 350,000 metric tons with 40 per cent tariff since 2005 up to 2012.

So said that the non-rice concessions in terms of tariff and MAV on imported offal of swine and mechanically deboned meat of chicken has led to the slow death of the local swine and poultry industry.–Eva Visperas

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