MANILA – The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has allowed the National Food Authority (NFA) to hold the meeting of the Asean Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR).
This, after the IATF-EID considered the NFA’s ninth meeting of APTERR as an essential gathering, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press statement.
Under IATF-EID Resolution 116 approved Thursday, the NFA’s APTERR meeting is exempt from the prohibition on meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibition (MICE) venues.
“NFA’s choice of a specific MICE venue shall be subject to applicable laws and rules,” the resolution read.
APTERR is a regional cooperation mechanism involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member-countries plus South Korea, Japan, and China.
It aims to strengthen food security, alleviate poverty, eradicate malnourishment, and provide emergency rice assistance to victims of natural calamities in Asean countries.
On May 15, Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) 135 which lowers the Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff rates on rice to 35 percent from 40 percent for in-quota purchases and 50 percent for out-quota purchases for one year.
Duterte adjusted MFN tariff rates on imported rice to “diversify the country’s market sources, augment rice supply, maintain prices affordable, and reduce pressures on inflation,” according to EO 135.
However, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Senators Francis Pangilinan, Nancy Binay, Leila de Lima, and Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday filed Senate Resolution 726, urging Duterte to withdraw EO 135.
The senators claimed there is “no reasonable and sufficient” basis to order the temporary reduction of rice tariffs.
They added that Duterte’s EO 135 would only “cause more burden to our local rice farmers, further increase our import dependency, and cost the government millions in foregone revenues.”
On Thursday, Roque said Duterte decided to lower the tariff rates on imported rice to address the 10-percent supply shortfall. (PNA)
