By Stephanie Sevillano | Philippine News Agency
The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday said rice imports may reach an all-time high of 4.7 million metric tons (MMT) by the end of the year to counter the effects of natural disasters on local palay production in the country.
According to the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), actual import arrivals have already hit 4.48 MMT as of Dec. 12.
“Sa ngayon, iyon ay tama lang dahil nakaranas tayo ng maraming problema this year. Sabi nga ni Secretary (Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.), this is the most depressing year for agriculture because of so many calamities, both natural and tsaka iyong sa sakit, El Niño, and then, series of typhoons, La Niña,” DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said in an interview, citing the need for the market to adjust.
“Alam nila kung kailan kailangang magdagdag. The market will adjust dahil mababa iyong production, they will get those deficiency sa importation,” he said.
The DA’s Rice Program projects a 19.3 MMT palay production for the year, a decline from last year’s 20.06 MMT palay output.
De Mesa said the projected import volume will provide ample rice stocks till the next harvest season.
“’Yung imports, good for us to have three months’ supply ng bigas until next year, which will be enough to carry us out until (the) next harvest season,” he said.
Reduced tariffs helps prevent rice smuggling
Meanwhile, De Mesa said more rice imports are being declared due to the reduced tariff—from 35 percent to 15 percent—and prevented smuggling of the staple.
“Dahil wala nang insentibo para sa smugglers na mag-smuggle pa dahil sa mababang taripa, ngayon pumapasok na talaga sa actual recording iyong mga pumapasok na bigas at hindi na dumadaan pa sa ibang channel,” he noted.
Since President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order (EO) No. 62 in June, the volume of imported rice arriving in the country surpassed the 100,000-MT level in June and July, with the highest arrivals reported in October at 572,073 MT.
For the first half of December, the BPI reported 158,988 MT of imported rice.