The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has collected P17.9 billion in import duties from 2.8 million metric tons (MT) of rice shipments so far last year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
According to a DOF statement yesterday, Rey Leonardo Guerrero, customs commissioner, said revenues from rice imports from January 1 to December 10, 2021, came from shipments worth a combined amount of P51.37 billion.
Preliminary data show that import duties collected for that period rose by 21.9 percent from P14.72 billion during the same period in 2020.
“For the monitoring of rice imports, the table shows that for the period December 1-10, 2021, volume of rice imports grew by 487.9 percent, while revenue also increased by 475.8 percent. Cumulatively, it grew by 23.4 percent in volume and 21.9 percent in revenue,” Guerrero said during a recent DOF executive committee meeting.
The DOF said for the January to December 10 period, the volume of rice imports totaled 2.797 million MT, up from 2.266 million MT during the same period in 2020.
Guerrero said as a result of the continuous decline of the price of rice in the world market since May 2021, the average value of rice per MT dropped by 1.7 percent to P18,532 per MT for the period compared to the P18,854 per MT recorded during the same time the prior year.
Import duties collected from rice imports beginning March 5, 2019, go to the annual P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) as provided under Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law.
