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MANILA, Philippines — The government’s ongoing rice importation ban could potentially result in losses of over P6 billion for the Bureau of Customs (BOC) this year as reduced shipments continue to prevent the agency from reaching its revenue target.

Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno told reporters that the rice importation halt has already resulted in a P3-billion loss from September to October based on the current market value of rice in the domestic market.

“We are not yet giving up, because if we concede already, it might worsen, right? But we are trying to check if there are other sources that can compensate,” Nepomuceno said when asked how it would affect the BOC‘s revenue target.

President Marcos imposed a rice-import ban from Sept. 1 to Oct. 30, later extending it to the end of the year to protect local farmers during the peak harvest period.

For the whole 2025, the BOC is expected to collect P958.7 billion.

When asked if the full-year revenue would settle at around P950 billion, Nepomuceno affirmed it but remained cautious, noting that the agency is operating at 98 percent efficiency and is not ready to give up yet.

“I don’t want to predict right away, we don’t know. We could have hit the target this October if there had been one more day of work. Compared to last year, there are more working days,” he said.

For October alone, BOC Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla stated that the agency experienced a three-percent drop in volume, equivalent to approximately 322 million kilos.

Nepomuceno previously told The STAR that the BOC is banking on stronger revenue collection from oil and agricultural imports to offset expected losses from halted rice imports as it strives to meet its full-year collection target.

Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that the BOC’s collection grew by 1.6 percent to P701.7 billion from January to September, higher than the P690.7 billion recorded in the same period last year.

However, the nine-month figure is lower by 1.4 percent than the programmed target of P711.8 billion for the period.

Source : msn