THE Department of Agriculture (DA) “will not allow” the entry of 5-percent broken imported rice, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said on Thursday.
The Tariff Commission on Wednesday began a formal investigation into imposing a definitive safeguard duty on rice imports from various countries.
Tiu Laurel said that if importation is found to injure the local industry, the likely outcome would be higher tariffs or a quantitative restriction on rice imports.
While the probe is ongoing, the DA is appealing to importers to avoid bringing in 5-percent broken rice into the country. “We will not allow it,” he said, adding that only 25-percent broken rice and other lower-quality varieties would be permitted — effective immediately, not just at the start of the September harvest season.
He said farmers, millers, traders, and importers agreed to this in principle at a recent meeting.
The move aims to prevent a repeat of last year’s farmgate price collapse, when palay (unmilled rice) prices fell to P8-P12 per kilogram — below production cost — triggering a four-month import ban.
Barring premium imported rice, he said, levels the playing field for local rice. “The rice is really good ... Even by just looking, if the prices are only similar, you would pick the imported one,” he said, noting premium imported rice is whitened and polished four times during milling versus three locally. “Theirs is 5-percent broken; ours is 25 percent.”
Broken rice refers to grains that are fractured or fragmented during harvesting, transportation or milling. While once considered an inferior by-product, these smaller, irregular pieces are prized for their ability to cook quickly and absorb flavors.
Meanwhile, the DA is working to improve local rice quality by distributing high-quality seeds to farmers through the Philippine Rice Research Institute.
“My mandate and my heart are with the farmers and the local industry who have invested a lot of money into buying dryers, building their storages and building their rice mills,” Tiu Laurel said. “We have to support them, or else our industry will die.”