Joint Statement on the Rice Tariffication Law and Agricultural Development
The Rice Tariffication Law (RTL or RA 11203), signed on February 14, 2019, ended the more than 30-year policy of quantitative restrictions (QRs or import bans) on rice import in favor of the shift to tariff as the main instrument in protecting our palay farmers. The RTL favors tariff as a trade instrument because it is more transparent, compared to government-to-government transactions, as anyone who is willing to pay the tariff imposed by the government can import rice.