AN ongoing two-month rice import suspension could be extended following improvements in palay (unmilled rice) prices, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Friday.
“Pending data validation, I am now inclined to recommend that the president extend the ban for at least 15 to 30 days,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement.
The 60-day import halt, which took effect at the start of September, was ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in August. The DA, which recommended the move, at that time said that cheap imported rice had led to palay farmgate prices falling below the cost of production.
That cost is around P14 per kilogram (kg), the department said, falling to P12/kg for the most efficient palay producers.
“Before the import ban, prices of wet palay had fallen to around P8 to P10 per kilo. We are now seeing P17 per kilo in some areas of Mindanao,” Tiu Laurel said.
“In provinces like Isabela and Nueva Ecija, prices have risen to P13 to P14 per kilo. Although these prices are still not profitable for most farmers, they are an improvement.”
The DA is expected to submit its recommendation as to whether to shorten or extend the rice import ban by the end of September.
The department also reiterated its call for changes to the Rice Tariffication Law of 2019, which removed the quantitative restrictions on rice imports and replaced it with a tariff system.
The DA said the amendments should restore some regulatory functions of the National Food Authority such as the ability to manage import volumes and intervene in the market.
Tiu Laurel said that recent leadership changes in the Senate and the House of Representatives had not affected chairmanships of the agriculture committees, which would be helpful in pushing changes to the law.
The DA chief said he would be meeting with Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Francis Pangilinan, House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Mark Enverga and Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III to finalize the proposed amendments.
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