Retailers of overpriced imported rice face probe

MANILA, Philippines —  The Department of Agriculture (DA) has ordered stricter market monitoring to ensure that the price cap of P43 per kilo on imported rice is enforced during the ongoing import suspension, warning that violators of the regulation will be penalized.

In a statement yesterday, the DA said market teams have been deployed to validate reports of higher prices for imported rice and stressed that retailers caught overcharging will be ordered to explain.

“If the complaints are validated, retailers will be issued show cause orders,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said.

He said supply remains sufficient even if the suspension is extended.

The DA chief said that the Philippines ended 2024 with about 1.2 million metric tons in excess imports and brought in an additional 800,000 MT in the first nine months of this year.

President Marcos is expected to prolong the two-month import freeze until December.

The suspension was intended to shore up palay prices after farmgate levels crashed to as low as P8 per kilo in some provinces due to oversupply and crop losses from bad weather.

While he acknowledged a pickup in demand for premium imported grain, Tiu Laurel said this and the temporary halt in imports should not push prices past the P43 per kilo suggested retail price for five percent broken rice.