MANILA, Philippines—With global oil prices having declined significantly, the government has restored the regular 3 percent import tariff on crude and petroleum product imports, to take effect today.

The government initially cut the tariff to 2 percent in January and scrapped it altogether in June to September when crude oil topped $100 a barrel, to reduce fuel prices and help curb rising inflation.

“It’s a policy direction that we have to go back to 3 percent because the triggers are no longer there,” Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said.

But the restoration of the 3 percent tariff should not be expected to raise fuel prices, said Zenaida Monsada, the director of the energy department’s oil industry management bureau.

Monsada said the impending fuel price rollbacks in line with the retreat in crude prices would more than offset the 50-centavo-per-liter impact that the tariff would have on pump prices.

“Even with the tariff back at 3 percent, we can still expect a rollback,” she said.

The government said the tariff would not have an impact on revenue.

To mitigate the impact on consumers of the recent escalation of global oil prices, the government adopted a policy of adjusting the tariff on crude and petroleum product imports when specific price triggers are met.

Under an order issued by President Macapagal-Arroyo last January, the tariff, adjusted monthly, is cut by one-percentage-point increments when the price of benchmark Dubai crude and Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) diesel prices hit certain trigger price points.

It is cut to 2 percent from the regular 3 percent when the price of benchmark Dubai crude rises to $83 per barrel and the MOPS-based diesel hits $105 a barrel.

The tariff is reduced further to 1 percent when Dubai crude hits $91 and MOPS-based diesel $110.

The import tariff is scrapped altogether if Dubai crude hits $103 a barrel and MOPS-based diesel $115 a barrel.

Regional oil prices are reviewed during the first 15 days of each month, and the average prices during that period are then used as a basis for deciding to what level the tariff should be adjusted to.

The tariff level for June was brought down to zero, the first time that the tariff was entirely scrapped since the policy was implemented earlier this year.

It has been pegged at zero since then, until October when a tariff of 1 percent was imposed as a result of softening world oil prices. In November, the tariff goes back to the regular 3 percent.

Dubai crude averaged $68 per barrel in October, down sharply from the September average of $95.90, according to data from the Department of Energy.

US light crude fell to below $64 a barrel yesterday, less than half a record near-$150 in July on worries a global recession would curb demand. With Reuters