The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced on Tuesday that certain shipments of imported rice will still be allowed to enter the Philippines through four designated ports until September 15, despite the 60-day import ban that took effect on Monday.
The temporary ban was imposed to support local farmers as the palay (unhusked rice) harvest begins. Only the ports of Manila, Cebu, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro will accept qualified shipments within the two-week grace period.
DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa clarified that the exemption applies only to rice shipments sent before August 31.
“Base doon sa nilabas na order ng BPI (Bureau of Plant Industry), kailangan ‘yung bigas na i-import ay makalabas doon sa bansa na pinanggalingan before the end of August at makarating iyon dito sa atin, latest ay Sept. 15,” he said.
Shipments dispatched on September 1 and beyond will be denied entry and returned to their country of origin.
However, the DA said Japonica, Basmati, and glutinous rice varieties from Vietnam are exempted from the 60-day import suspension due to an earlier trade agreement.
As of August 28, the BPI reported that 419,000 metric tons (MT) of rice are expected to arrive from 210 importers with sanitary and phytosanitary clearances. So far, 264,000 MT have already arrived, pushing the country’s total import inventory to 2.8 million MT.