The Department of Agriculture (DA) has called for an increase in tariffs on rice imports and a temporary halt to the importation of all produce to protect local farmers.
The move was prompted by concerns over a “grim future” for the agriculture sector should the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) remain unchanged.
“If it (RTL) is not addressed, if it is not amended, it will kill the rice industry,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement released July 31.
“Imported rice is creating a problem for local rice producers. It is eating market share, and that could force even local millers to close shop and just go into rice importation. What is important to me is the stability of the local market,” he explained.
The cabinet will be discussing the issue with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. while he is in India for his five-day state visit, said Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Dave Gomez.
The DA has been successful in improving its sugar and onion importations using a model the agency believes may be implemented for rice with the amendment of the RTL.
Tiu Laurel recommended resorting to imports only to fill the supply gap and an additional two- to three-month buffer stock, amounting to 750,000 to as much as 1 million metric tons a year.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez has already filed House Bill No. 1, or the RICE Act, which seeks to restore the National Food Authority’s (NFA) regulatory powers, enable the DA to restrict imports—especially during harvest season—and allow the government to set a floor price.
