Rice imports have declined significantly after the government imposed more stringent sanitary measures.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said rice importation volume dropped to 85,000 metric tons in October from a monthly average of 254,000 MT in the first nine months of the year.
“We will continue to be strict and continue to elevate [food safety] measures before the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPSIC),” Dar said.
He stressed the department would continue to implement the measures, especially during harvest season, to protect local palay farmers from the further influx of cheaper imported rice.
The government has informed Vietnam and Thailand, the main sources of Manila’s rice imports, on the tighter measures.
“We are not afraid because we are after food safety,” Dar said.
Manila to date has imported 2.9 million MT.
Dar said the review of the Rice Tariffication Law was premature amid calls by lawmakers and farmers, noting that the surge in volume of imported rice was a natural market reaction as a result of trade liberalization of the staple.
“In fact, a surge in imports is natural for any commodity being traded in a newly liberalized market. Give the law a chance. We want RTL to work for both farmers and consumers. At the end of the day, this is a reform that has been long wanting and should be implemented now,” he said.
The government started imposing tariff on imported rice in March in lieu of import quotas to ease inflation.
The measure, however, significantly depressed the buying of palay at the farm gate level.
The Agriculture Department said the situation was just temporary and that the market would correct itself soon.
