Philippines May Require Rice Importers to Establish Post-Harvest Facilities

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said the implementing rules and regulations of the Rice Industry and Consumer Empowerment (RICE) Act could require rice importers to set up post-harvest facilities to qualify for quotas. Mr. Laurel told reporters the proposed facilities that would make importers eligible to ship in rice include mills, drying systems, and complete rice processing systems. Importers could also be required to buy domestically grown rice to process at their facilities. Requiring importers to process “worked quite well for the sugar industry and in the marine industry, so that’s going to be our policy as well. You cannot import during closed season if you don’t land your own catch through the local market,” Mr. Laurel told reporters on the sidelines of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines’ Food Security Forum. Mr. Laurel said such measures would benefit farmers, consumers and agribusinesses, noting that investment in agriculture will be rewarded. “If we’re going to give the right to import or the allocation of imports to those who have invested in the industry and continuously buy palay (unmilled rice) and processes palay from our farmers, they’re not just going to import cheap rice to kill their own investment, so they won’t buy too little from farmers. It goes hand in hand,” Mr. Laurel said. Mr. Laurel noted that a majority of rice importers solely focus on importing. The RICE Act amends the Rice Tariffication Law by restoring and expanding the National Food Authority’s regulatory powers over rice. The proposed law is still pending in Congress. — Marron Joshua F. Mendoza