ANGADANAN, Isabela – Believing that ensuring food security is of “paramount concern”, the Senate is exerting efforts to speed up the passage of the upper chamber’s version of the Rice Tariffication Bill, the chairman of the House committee on agriculture and food said.
“The Senate agriculture committee headed by Senator Cynthia Villar has informed me that they are fast-tracking the approval this October and I hope that our House version would also be adopted. If not, there will be a fine-tuning in a bicameral conference,” ANAC-IP Partylist Rep. Jose Panganiban Jr. told the Philippine News Agency in an interview on Thursday.
He added that according to the government economic development cluster, approval of the bill would mitigate inflation woes in the country.
The House of Representatives approved, through a 200-7-2 vote on third and final reading, the rice tariffication bill in August this year.
Panganiban said approval of the bill would result in lower prices of rice through replacement of quantitative import restrictions with tariffs and creation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.
“This will be a win-win situation for the farmers and the country,” he noted.
If finally passed into a law, it would “protect producers of agricultural products, ensure food security, and make the agricultural sector viable and globally competitive,” Panganiban said.
The bill seeks to adopt full liberalization of the rice sector by scrapping the minimum access volume, import licensing power and all administrative measures that control the entry of rice.
It refers to tariff as tax levied on an imported commodity. It earns revenues for the government and is regarded as a way to promote local industries by taxing their competitors. The benefit is accorded to the local producers. (Bill Visaya/PNA)
