Did you know that Senate Bill 1998 or the Rice Tariffication Bill is aimed at reducing the importation of rice in our country that will help lower its price by PHP 2 to Php 7 per kilo?
Update: The Rice Liberalization Act (RA No. 11203) has been signed by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte on Feb 14, 2019.
Senate Bill 1998 under committee report 440 sponsored by Senator Cynthia Villar in the Senate has the purpose of losing and replacing the tariffs on the current quantitative restriction system of importing rice in the Philippines.
Senate Bill 1998 once passed is expected to lower by Php 2 up to Php 7 per kilo of rice. It is expected to lower the inflation rate by 0.4 percentage points.
A rice competitiveness enhancement fund or rice fund will be created amounting to Php 10 billion to come from the national budget until such time that the collection from tariffs is sufficient.
The rice fund will be allocated to assisting Filipino farmers. The fund will be used for the multiplication of seeds to be used for planting rice, teaching new farming techniques and seed production, financial assistance, and distribution of equipment and farming machinery to farmers who are legitimate members of a duly registered cooperative.
The Rice Liberalization Act (RA No. 11203) has been signed by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte on
Feb 14, 2019. It amends the two-decade-old Agricultural Tariffication Act and replaces
the quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice imports w/ tariff that will be used to support
local farmers.NEDA is taking the lead in crafting the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the
law along with the Department of Budget and Management, Department of Agriculture, and other concerned government agencies to ensure the country’s smooth transition to a new rice regime.