DTI continues push for zero Tariff on milling wheat, cement

Despite opposition from the concerned industries, the Department of Trade and Industry continues to push for the extension of two executive orders that will keep tariffs on milling wheat and cement at zero.

Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said the DTI still saw it necessary to maintain the current zero-tariff regime for another six months.

“That was our recommendation, although we know that the Department of Finance doesn’t want it. We feel that it is still needed,” she said in an interview Thursday.

Separate executive orders keeping tariffs on milling wheat and cement at zero expired late last month.
A month before the orders’ expiration, flour and cement stakeholders Philippine Association of Flour
Millers and the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines had filed separate petitions to bring wheat and cement tariff back to 3 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

Pafmil said the government has not been able to achieve its main objective of lowering bread prices by imposing zero tariff on milling wheat. What the zero-tariff regime yielded instead were forgone revenues for the government of as much as P1 billion.

Cemap president Ernesto Ordoñez, on the other hand, said reverting to the 5-percent tariff regime on cement imports would protect the industry from dumping.

Taking the same position as the DTI were various bakers’ groups, including the Philippine Baking Industry Group, Filipino Chinese Bakery Association Inc. and the Philippine Federation of Bakers Association Inc., which sought zero tariff not only on milling wheat but also on flour.

“This petition to lift the tariff on flour imports will bring down the price of bread and other baked food products for the benefit of the consuming public. At present, the 5- to 7-percent tariff rate on flour adds a burden to bread and other flour-based prices and delays the implementation of the country’s international trade agreements. The lifting of the tariff on imported flour is necessary as it will directly benefit the consuming public and the baking industry,” a joint petition filed with the Tariff Commission stated.

The DTI’s recommendation for zero tariff, however, only covered milling wheat and cement—products that were currently under a zero-tariff regime.

Malacañang had yet to issue any new executive orders on the matter.(PDI)





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