The Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected P18.9 billion in duties from rice imports in 2021, and P3.75 billion from pork imports from April 2021 to January 2022, the Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement yesterday.
Rey Leonardo Guerrero, customs commissioner, said in his report during a recent DOF Executive Committee meeting the 2021 collection from rice imports was 22 percent higher than the P15.5 billion collected in 2020.
Import duties collected from rice imports beginning March 5, 2019 go to the annual P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund as provided under Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law.
For pork imports, Guerrero said the BOC collected P3.75 billion from April 9, 2021 to Jan. 28, 2022 from a total volume of 242 million kilograms.
The bureau, however, estimates it had foregone P4 billion in revenues during this period as a result of the presidential directives lowering the import tariffs on pork.
President Duterte had issued executive orders that took effect April 7, 2021 lowering pork import tariffs and increasing the allowable import volumes of the meat.
These directives were meant to quell inflation by boosting the supply of pork and stabilizing its retail prices in the domestic market after the outbreak of the Asian swine fever had hurt domestic hog production. – Angela Celis
