PH extends rice import restriction for 3 more years

The Philippines is keeping the quantitative restriction on rice purchases in place for three more years, limiting supplies from major sellers like Thailand and Vietnam, according to an executive order released on Monday.

The maximum volume of rice that private traders can ship in annually will remain at 805,200 tonnes until 2020, with the tariff also kept at 35 percent, the order signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on April 27 showed.

The Philippines, one of the world's top rice importers, is supposed to lift the import restriction by July 1 under an agreement with the World Trade Organization (WTO). It was not immediately clear if Manila needs to seek another waiver from the trade body from its obligation to open up the domestic rice market.

In 2014, Manila won WTO approval for a waiver but, as part of the agreement, it pledged to increase the annual import volume from 350,000 tonnes and reduce the rice tariff from 40 percent.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, who believes the Philippines could be self-sufficient in rice production by 2020, had been pushing for a two-year extension of the restriction, saying local farmers are not ready to compete with cheap imports.

The Philippines imports more than 1 million tonnes of rice every year, with Thailand and Vietnam its key suppliers.

Socio-economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia had pushed for the lifting of the restriction, arguing that introducing competition in the domestic market would encourage local farmers to improve efficiency and bring down local prices.

Both Piñol and Pernia did not respond to Reuters' requests for comments on the executive order.

The Southeast Asian nation has kept the restriction in place since 1995 when it acceded to the WTO treaty. It has won three extensions since then.

Meanwhile, the NFA said it will issue a tender to import 250,000 tonnes of the grain next month, to boost low stockpiles before the lean harvest season and to offset potential crop damage during the typhoon season.

The tender is open to private traders in major exporters Thailand and Vietnam as well as other countries including top supplier India and Pakistan, the National Food Authority (NFA), the state grains buyer, said yesterday.

Expectations of fresh rice demand from some of the world's top importers such as the Philippines and Bangladesh have pushed up prices in Thailand and Vietnam. (Reuters)