Tariff cuts extension up for NEDA approval

THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board is set to approve another extension of reduced tariffs on rice, pork and corn, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan indicated on Wednesday.

«We're talking about EO (Executive Order) 10? It will go to the NEDA Board next week,» Balisacan told reporters.

EO 10, issued in December last year, approved the extension of reduced most favored nation tariffs on rice, corn, pork and coal that were implemented by the previous administration to combat stubborn inflation.

The lower tariffs on rice, corn and pork are scheduled to expire at the end of this year, while those for coal will remain in effect but subject to a periodic review.

An interagency committee created by Malacañang has already recommended the move and Balisacan said this had been endorsed by the NEDA's Committee on Tariff and Related Matters.

«We have to sustain the gains in inflation reduction,» he said. «To us, it's critical to ensure that we achieve [the 2.0- to 4.0-percent target].»

Inflation slowed to 4.1 percent in November, due largely to lower price growth for some key food items. Rice inflation, however, picked up to 15.8 percent from 13.2 percent.

Emilio Neri, senior economist at Bank of the Philippine Islands, said that this suggested that the country's problem with rice was not yet over and that supplies would remain tight in the coming months.

A farmers group, however, said it was against an extension as lower tariffs had not led to lower prices for consumers.

«We have supplied the Tariff Commission with PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) data showing that imports from non-Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) countries did not significantly increase despite the reduction in tariffs,» Federation of Free Farmers national manager Raul Montemayor said on Wednesday.

«Retail prices have not dropped, and most of the rice imports are for premium grades for sale to well-off consumers,» he added.

Montmayor claimed that EO 10 had also cost the government over a billion pesos in foregone tariffs.

«It deprived rice farmers of an equal amount in terms of supplemental support based on the RTL (Rice Tariffication Law) provision that