Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Thursday unveiled measures to curb rice price manipulation, including removing brand labels and descriptors like “premium” and “special” from imported rice.
The initiative aims to address practices that inflate prices and exploit Filipino consumers, the Department of Agriculture said.
“Market visits have revealed that some retailers and traders are using branded imports to mislead consumers and justify higher rice prices,” Tiu Laurel said.
Under the new directive, imported rice will no longer bear brand names or labels that suggest superior quality. However, locally-produced rice is exempted to support Filipino farmers and traders.
“Importing rice is not a right but a privilege,” he said, warning that traders failing to comply with the new regulations risk losing their import permits.
Data from the Department of Agriculture (DA) show that a reasonable markup of P6 to P8 per kilogram above the landed cost is sufficient to sustain operations across the supply chain.
Imported rice purchased at P40 per kilo from Vietnam should not exceed P48 per kilo in retail markets.
Tiu Laurel said to stabilize rice prices further, he is considering invoking a food security emergency under the amended Rice Tariffication Law.
This measure would release buffer stocks from the National Food Authority (NFA).
He also suggested empowering government corporations such as the Food Terminal Inc. FTI), to directly import rice and compete with private traders.
The DA is also exploring the activation of the Consumer Price Act to address profiteering. Coordination with the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is being planned to audit rice traders’ financial records and enforce fair pricing.
The DA will also tap the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to monitor market prices.
Despite the temporary measure reducing import tariffs from 35 percent to 15 percent, rice prices remained stubbornly high.
