The Department of Agriculture has adopted a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for imported rice at P49 per kilo starting March 1.
The MSRP level is lower than the P58 per kilo price the DA had originally planned to implement from January 20 this year.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement on Wednesday the MSRP will be imposed selectively in Metro Manila, key cities and other urban centers.
“In many provincial areas, we’ve seen prices of imported rice already lower than the MSRP. So we will apply it more selectively,” Laurel explained.
The MSRP seeks to bring down the retail prices of imported rice and reflect the reduction in rice tariff rates from 35 percent to 15 percent last year through Executive Order 62.
The MSRP for rice had been adjusted downward to P55 per kg, and eventually, to P49.
Before the introduction of the MSRP, imported rice categorized as 5 percent broken, sold between P62 and P64 per kg.
Laurel said he would review the SRP numbers in the coming days to see if there could be room for additional reduction.
Last month, he projected that the price of imported rice could fall below P50 per kg, provided world market prices remained stable, with a maximum landed cost of $550 per metric ton (MT) for 5 percent broken rice.
The landed cost of 5 percent broken rice was quoted at $490 per MT as of Feb 21, 2025.
The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) said the lowering of the MSRP is beneficial to the public, but its benefits will only be felt if rice tariffs revert to the original or higher rates.
“Just a little push and we would reach the ideal price of P40 to P45 per kg of imported rice,” Sinag executive director Jonas Cainglet said in a statement.
The imposition of the MSRP and the food security emergency declaration are both government interventions on the dismal failure of EO 62 to tame rice prices, he said.
“It is the right time to call for the repeal of EO 62 and generate revenues from imported rice that is earmarked to directly support our rice farmers,” Cainglet said.
Other stakeholders are urging the DA to strike a balance between the price of imported rice and local produce since it will affect the buying price of palay during the ongoing harvest season.
The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) said that in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, prices of newly harvested palay dipped to as low as P13 per kg, while clean and dry palay sold for P19 per kg. Some traders were hesitant to buy palay stocks due to the influx of imported rice in the market.
The FFF added that the National Food Authority (NFA) has yet to procure clean and dry palay from farmers at the announced price of P23 per kg since its warehouses are still full of the grains from the previous harvest.
Raul Montemayor, FFF national manager, said traders are also hedging against a continued drop in rice prices due to the implementation of MSRP for rice and the disposal of NFA rice through local governments and Kadiwa outlets at a subsidized rate of P33 per kg.
“We urge DA to address the emerging problems of farmers with the same vigor and persistence with which it has been cutting rice prices for consumers,” Montemayor said.
Danilo Fausto, Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. president, said his group is hopeful “that DA will be sensitive and strike a balance between the retail price of rice against the farm gate price of palay.”
The rice harvest season is approaching and it will be a disaster for the farmers if they do not get reasonable profit for their efforts in producing food for the people, Fausto said.
Government intervention in free enterprise tends to place the farmers at a disadvantage, Fausto added.
Data from the Bureau of Plant Industry showed that as much as 414,137.233 MT of imported rice arrived in the country as of February 20 this year.
The bulk of the imported rice supply came from Vietnam, with 293,084.94 MT, equivalent to 70.8 percent of all rice shipments for the period.
Based on DA’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, local well-milled rice sold for P42 to P52 per kg on Tuesday, while regular milled rice went for P38 to P45 per kg.
Imported well-milled rice was selling for P43 to P46 per kg while the price of imported regular milled rice ranged from P36 to P46 per kg.
Special variety imported rice fetched P55 to P62 and premium rice, P49 to P57.
A special variety of local rice was selling for P53 to P63 per kg, and premium rice for P45 to P62 per kg.
