Rice retailers charging ₱60 per kilo for imported rice are engaging in profiteering which is a violation of consumer protection laws, Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said on Monday, Jan. 6.
“Malinaw sa akin na dapat wala nang ₱60 rice na imported sa merkado (It is clear to me that there should no longer be ₱60 imported rice in the market),” he said after the flag raising ceremony at DA Central Office in Quezon City.
“Ang ₱60 na imported rice is already profiteering, in my opinion (The ₱60 imported rice is already profiteering, in my opinion).”
Earlier, Laurel stated that after conducting several market visits, they found sufficient evidence to suggest that some retailers and traders were deliberately misleading Filipino consumers by using branded imports to artificially inflate rice prices.
As part of the solution, he ordered removing brand labels from imported rice.
The DA chief also directed the removal of labels such as “premium” and “special” from imported rice, saying these are being misused to inflate prices.
Data from the agriculture department indicates that a reasonable markup for imported rice is ₱6 to ₱8 per kilo over its landed cost to ensure sustainable profits. For example, rice imported from Vietnam at an all-in cost of ₱40 per kilo should retail for no more than ₱48 per kilo.
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