DA eyes extending rice import ban

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is considering extending the ban on rice imports until the end of the year, as farmgate prices of palay or unmilled rice continue to fall.

“I met with the President last week and we decided to extend the import ban by a minimum of 30 days,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. told reporters in mixed English and Filipino at the House of Representatives on Monday.

“It is possible that it will be extended until the end of the year depending on the situation. The problem is that palay prices have dropped,” he added.   

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. had earlier ordered a 60-day suspension of rice imports starting Sept. 1 to protect Filipino farmers during harvest season and to stabilize rice prices. The suspension was originally supposed to end on Nov. 2 and applies only to regular milled and well-milled rice.

Last Friday, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Clarissa A. Castro said the President ordered the extension of the import ban but did not give details.

Under Republic Act No. 12078, the President is allowed to suspend or prohibit the importation of rice during a specific period, when there are excess of local or imported supply resulting in a drop in local prices.

“I also talked to our rice millers and traders last week. They are actually requesting the import ban be extended until the end of this year,” Mr. Tiu Laurel said.

Mr. Tiu Laurel said there is “a big possibility” that tariffs on imported rice would be hiked before the import ban ends.

“We are running the numbers now from 20%, 25%, or 35%, and hopefully, we can make a decision before the closure of the (import) ban,” he added.

Tariffs on foreign rice are currently at 15% until 2028.

Mr. Tiu Laurel said the import ban extension was aimed at propping up farmgate prices of unmilled rice, which had dropped to P8 to P10 per kilo in some areas. “This is a loss to farmers,” he added.

The farmgate price for palay fell by 27.8% to PHP 17.11 per kilo in August, from the PHP 23.71 per kilo last year, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.

Emergency procurement

The Agriculture chief also said that the President will also issue an executive order for emergency government procurement of palay.

“The DA also asked, and it is already approved in principle, for the President to issue an order for the emergency procurement of palay and the emergency procurement for additional lease and rent of warehouses,” he added.

Mr. Tiu Laurel said that this would allow the agency to procure more palay stocks from Filipino farmers in “depressed price areas.”

He added that the National Food Authority will purchase palay from farmers at a minimum of PHP 17 per kilo under the emergency plan.

“Hopefully, that will help. We are acting fast and we are deploying additional people so that if we get additional warehouses, they will be available for us to buy and help our farmers,” he said.

The Philippines is the biggest importer of rice in the world, according to the US Department of Agriculture. It is projected to import about 4.9 million metric tons this year.

Federation of Free Farmers National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor said that extension of the rice import ban to protect farmers would not have any effect on inflation, as local harvest is expected to offset any slowdown in rice shipments.

“Rice prices and inflation should not go up since whatever imported stocks are in the market now were bought at cheap prices before the ban, and local stocks are coming from fresh harvest that were bought at low prices,” Mr. Montemayor said in a Viber message.

He added that rice traders will continue to purchase palay from farmers at low prices “for fear that cheap imports will flood the market again when the ban is lifted.”

“We believe that the ban should be complemented by a reversion of the import tariff to 35% which will provide the leeway for local traders to buy at higher prices from farmers,” he said.

On the other hand, Roehlano M. Briones, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said that an extended rice import freeze would only raise retail prices.

“An extended ban will work if the intended effect is supporting palay prices. However, it will also prop up retail prices, forfeiting gains from lower retail prices for poor consumers,” he said in a Viber message.

Former Agriculture Undersecretary Fermin D. Adriano said in a Viber message that the extension will further irk rice exporters from Vietnam, the country largest rice trading partner.

The Philippines is Vietnam’s top rice export market, shipping about 2.47 million metric tons in the first nine months of 2025, according to the Bureau of Plant Industry as of Sept. 11. — Adrian H. Halili, Reporter