DA Sec. Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. – Photo courtesy of Department of Agriculture/Facebook.
Following the resumption of rice importation as ordered by Malacañang, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has delayed the imposition of higher tariffs on the staple until the month of February.
The DA had previously announced that the increase, from 15 to 20 percent, would take effect last January 16 after the government ended a temporary ban on inbound shipments of the staple.
In a statement announcing that the DA had secured palay buying price commitments from traders following a meeting, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. disclosed that “rice tariffs will not be raised until February and that final operational details will be carefully managed to avoid unnecessary market speculation.”
Rice importation resumed at the beginning of the year with the end of a four-month import moratorium that began in September on a directive from President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.
The halt was ordered following reports that farmgate prices of palay (unhusked rice) dropped to as low as P8 per kilogram in some areas of the country.
This was attributed by the DA to excessive importation.
In 2024, the rice import duty was slashed to 15 percent from 35 percent in a bid to address surging inflation, but with consumer price growth now under control, the government is looking to gradually raise the tariff.
The country’s rice imports reached 3.39 million metric tons (MT) in 2025 based on Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) data, down from 2024’s record 4.8 million MT.
The drop was attributed to the import moratorium.
