The country’s rice tariff collections this year may settle at a little over P13 billion, down by 60 percent on an annual basis, if the government’s temporary import ban will last until the end of December.
Industry sources said that the Bureau of Customs (BOC) would no longer be able to collect a single tariff from the commodity as the temporary rice import suspension, which took effect last Sept. 15, has been extended until Dec. 31.
Given this situation, the rice tariffs collected by the BOC from January to September will be the final count of collections for 2025.
The BOC was still able to collect tariffs from imported rice in September since there were shipments that were allowed to enter the country from Sept. 1 to 14.
The BOC collected P13.2 billion from rice imports during the nine-month period, based on its preliminary figures. This represents a 52.3-percent drop from the P27.7 billion rice tariff collected from January to September last year.
In 2024, the BOC collected a record-high P34.2 billion from rice imports.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. earlier announced that the government would extend the rice import ban, which was initially scheduled to last for only two months. The government will allow rice imports in January 2026 before implementing another import ban by February 2026 as local harvest begins again.
Finance Undersecretary Karlo Adriano estimated that the government would lose between P1.4 billion and P2 billion in revenues for every month of rice import suspension.
This means that the government may lose as much as P6 billion in the fourth quarter. Last year, the BOC collected P6.5 billion in rice tariffs from October to December.
Despite the plunge in rice tariff collections, the rice competitiveness enhancement fund (RCEF), which seeks to modernize and develop the local rice industry, will still have a guaranteed budget of P30 billion next year pursuant to existing laws. Primarily, the RCEF sources its budget from earmarked rice tariff collections.
The guaranteed budget for RCEF was increased to P30 billion from P10 billion, following the review of the first six years of implementation of the program and tariff collection performance of BOC.
However, in the event that rice tariff collections fall short of P30 billion, the remainder shall be sourced from the budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The 2026 National Expenditures Program has already set aside P30 billion for RCEF next year, which is parked in the budget of the Office of the Secretary of the DA.
Even before the rice import suspension, the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) of the House of Representatives has already flagged falling rice tariffs this year due to the implementation of the record-low tariff rate of 15 percent.
The CPBRD pointed out that doubling the first semester rice tariff collections will only amount to P20 billion, still short of the P30 billion RCEF appropriation.
Sourcing the shortfall in rice tariff collections from the DA budget would result in RCEF ‘competing’ with the allocation for the regular programs and projects of the department, according to CPBRD.
Experts have earlier warned that the projected shortfall in the rice tariff collections this year may further strain the government’s already limited fiscal space, potentially increasing its reliance on borrowings next year to sustain rice programs.
‘With the huge increase of the RCEF, the budget for rice relative to other commodities will further widen,’ the CPBRD said.
‘The budget of the DA has been described as rice-centric where a proportionately large proportion of funds is allocated to rice production, often at the expense of other important agricultural subsectors like high-value crops and poultry and livestock,’ the CPBRD added.