Metro Manila, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) will continue to implement the maximum suggested retail price on imported premium rice when the suspension on importation takes effect in September.
The DA said the price cap on imported premium rice will be kept at P43 per kilogram.
“Throughout the suspension, we will closely monitor supply and market dynamics—especially among retailers, wholesalers, and importers—and take appropriate action to uphold market discipline,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement Thursday, Aug. 14.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the 60-day suspension on rice imports starting Sept. 1 to protect farmers hit by low farmgate prices on palay.
Tiu Laurel said the suspension may be shortened or extended depending on price movements and the outcome of the next rice harvest.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the policy is unlikely to cause increases in inflation.
As of Aug. 7, around 2.5 million metric tons of rice imports have arrived in the country, according to the Bureau of Plant Industry.
Based on the DA’s price monitoring on Aug. 13, Metro Manila markets sold imported premium rice at P42 per kilogram to P48/kg.
