FG considers downward review of 110% import duty on parboiled rice

There are indications that the Federal Government is considering a downward review of the 110 percent tariff on importation of rice which started in 2013.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, minister of finance, dropped this hint in a recent meeting with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Lagos. She also disclosed that consultations were ongoing between the president, minister of agriculture and rural development, Akinwumi Adesina, and the Ministry of Finance on the percentage of the review.

According to the minister, who restated this while answering questions during the three-day ‘Budget 2014 Jam’ organised by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with IBM Technology, a telecommunication firm, the review would be targeted at reducing smuggling of rice.

She said it was discovered that the 110 percent duty encouraged smuggling from ports in neighbouring countries where the tariff is 10 percent, further observing that it had become necessary to review the 100 percent duty and 10 percent levy because the policy had created significant challenges, even though it had also led to increased local production of rice and created significant number of jobs, especially in the northern part of the country.

“We increased the tariff on imported parboiled rice, and it encouraged farmers to grow rice and we have grown over 1.1 million metric tonnes of rice, but we decided to bring it down because we see that it is not working as we want,” she explained.

Uzoamaka Anagor