President Marcos formalizes rice tariff cut through EO 62

MANILA, Philippines — The government has lowered the tariff on imported rice from 35 percent to 15 percent until 2028, which President Marcos’ economic managers believe could bring down the price of the staple to P29 a kilo.

Executive Order (EO) 62, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin by the authority of the President on June 20, modified the nomenclature and rates of import duty on various products, including rice, for the period 2024-2028.

The levy on rice, which covers both in-quota and out-quota rates, is subject to review every four months based on the EO.

“As may be necessary and/or as may be directed by the President, the comprehensive and/or specific MFN (Most Favored Nation) tariff listed…shall be subject to periodic review,” the order read.

At a Palace briefing earlier this month, Socio-economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the move was seen to bring down the price of rice to P29 a kilo.

“The Department of Agriculture (DA) is aiming for a reduction (to) P29 per kilo, at least for the poor, because we will complement this tariff reduction with the direct subsidies to the poor and vulnerable so that at least they could access the food,” Balisacan said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported a substantial decrease in the overall rice inflation last month from 23.9 percent in April to 23 percent in May as well as a slight decrease in its retail prices.

According to the DA price watch, well-milled rice sold in public markets during the last day of May stood at P48 to P55 per kilo, while regular milled rice was priced around P45 to P52 per kilo.

Marcos’ campaign promise is to reduce the price of rice to P20 a kilo.

Under the same EO, Marcos extended the effectivity of the lower rates on pork, mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of poultry and corn.

Pork imports have an in-quota tariff of 15 percent and out-quota rate of 25 percent, while the tariff on poultry MDM would stay at five percent until 2028.

The tariff rates on corn would remain at five percent for in-quota shipments and 15 percent for out-quota volume.

Under EO 62, the tariff rates on rice, pork, poultry MDM and corn would automatically revert to their original higher