DA to keep P43/kg. MSRP on imported rice despite 60-day ban

By Stephanie Sevillano, Philippine News Agency

FILE: RICE IMPORTS SUSPENDED. Workers unload sacks of imported rice from a truck in Tondo, Manila on Thursday (Aug. 7, 2025). President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered a 60-day suspension of all rice importation starting Sept. 1 to protect local farmers from low prices of palay (unmilled rice) this harvest season. (PNA photo by Yancy Lim)

MANILA – The maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for imported rice with 5 percent broken grains will remain at PHP43 per kg. despite the upcoming 60-day rice import ban, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Thursday.

“We will maintain the MSRP even during the two-month rice import ban,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement, pledging to prevent unscrupulous traders from taking advantage of consumers.

“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.”

As of Aug. 13, the DA’s Bantay Presyo monitoring showed the price per kg. of premium imported rice in Metro Manila at PHP42 to PHP48, and local premium rice at PHP42 to PHP60.

Tiu Laurel, however, said that the suspension may be “shortened or extended,” depending on retail rice price movements and the outcome of the wet harvest season.

Earlier, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. approved the recommendation of the agency to implement an import ban from September to October, considering the high volume of rice stock inventory in the country.

Exempted from the ban are specialty rice varieties, such as Japanese, black, and basmati rice.

The move is expected to “protect” local farmers from plunging farmgate prices during the wet harvest, which peaks in October.

As of Aug. 7, rice imports were recorded at 2.58 million metric tons, according to the Bureau of Plant Industry.