Extended import ban to cut rice tariff collections to P13 B

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.

- By JASPER EMMANUEL ARCALAS

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.