DA stops imports of high-grade rice

Agriculture Sec. Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.  —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) will temporarily halt the importation of 5-percent broken rice starting this month to help farmers cope with prices that have been depressed by the influx of foreign grain.

“We will no longer allow 5-percent broken rice to be imported into the Philippines starting now,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in an interview on Thursday.

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Tiu Laurel said he asked rice industry players to instead import lower-quality rice, as rice farmers, traders and millers all agreed “in principle” to the proposed import ban.

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“Our request to industry players is that starting July, they should no longer import rice better than 25-percent broken,” he said.

Premium grade

Five-percent broken rice refers to a premium grade of milled rice that has no more than 5 percent of fragmented kernels, while lower-grade rice (typically 10 percent, 15 percent or 25 percent) indicates more “broken” grain content.

The DA’s move was meant to reduce the country’s stock of five-percent broken rice while local farmers are planting higher quality varieties during the current lean season ahead of the harvest in September.

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“We need to import lesser quality rice so that our local rice can compete while we improve our local rice,” Tiu Laurel said. “Our importers need to help our local farmers and processors. Otherwise, they will just lobby against each other and end up hurting each other.”

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According to data from the Bureau of Plant Industry, more than 2.5 million metric tons (MT) of imported rice are already in the country since January, slightly higher than the 2.29 million MT for the same period last year.

In 2025, the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura reported a “flood of imported rice” that sent rice and palay (unmilled rice) prices plummeting.

Safeguards eyed

Tiu Laurel said the DA also asked the Tariff Commission to study the imposition of definitive safeguard measures against rice imports from various countries after the department established a “causal link” between increased rice imports and serious injury to the domestic industry.

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The TC scheduled a preliminary conference on July 10 to discuss matters relevant to the investigation, including timelines, nature of investigation, appearance of counsel and parties, number of witnesses and accessibility of documents of public file. /cb