The Department of Agriculture (DA) will implement before the end of this month a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for imported rice.
Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said they are now preparing for such a move, and although the DA has yet to set the final ceiling price for the grain, he noted that imported rice sold in the market today must not breach P60 per kilogram.
The decision is an offshoot of meetings between the department and rice importers this week. “We will also be meeting some of the retailers and additional importers,” Tiu Laurel said.
There should be no P60 per kilogram of imported rice in the market, the secretary noted, saying that selling imported rice at P60 per kg “is already profiteering in my opinion.”
The department is now establishing the parameters for the price ceiling.
“So we will be coming up with the maximum suggested retail price system very soon,” Tiu Laurel said.
The department is targeting to release the MSRP on imported rice before the end of the month.
The DA will meet with other departments, bureaus and law enforcement agencies to “sort out remedies” and operationalize the plan, the department noted.
These would include the Department of Trade and Industry, Bureau of Internal Revenue, National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police.
“Profiteering is mentioned in the Price Act, so whatever consequence there is, we will use that, so hopefully people will follow,” Tiu Laurel said.
Under the Price Act, “any person who commits any act of illegal price manipulation of any basic necessity or prime commodity … shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment for a period of not less than five years nor more than 15 years, and shall be imposed a fine of not less than P5,000 nor more than P2 million.”
In a separate interview, DA assistant secretary Arnel De Mesa, said the maximum price ceiling will depend on the type of rice following a strict basis of accounting.
“We know exactly the price in the international market, we also know the shipping cost, exchange rate and, of course, the tariff. So, we have the idea on the landed cost,” De Mesa said.
“Now, each type of rice has a branding and they also have their own different costs on their way to the market. That cost has a range but it should not be too much,” he added.
The department must have “a firm basis” for saying that imported rice must not be sold beyond P60 per kg, Raul Montemayor, Federation of Free Farmers national manager, said in a separate statement.
“There are different types, varieties, brands and source countries of imported rice with different prices and landed costs. DA also has to determine where the profiteering is occurring — at the import, wholesale or retail level,” Montemayor noted.
“Right now all the effort seems to be directed at retailers, but we also need to look at the margins of importers and wholesalers and check if these are not excessive,” he added.
Meanwhile, Jayson Cainglet, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura executive director, said their association has been championing for a price cap, “but with punitive action, under the new law, the Anti-Agriculture Economic Sabotage Act as the basis” in order to be a non-bailable offence for those caught and proven to have engaged in profiteering.
Based on their department’s monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, the price of local well-milled rice ranged from P42 to P52 per kg and regular milled rice between P38 and P50 per kg as of last Saturday.
The price of imported well-milled rice ranges from P40 to P54 per kg, while the price range of imported regular milled rice is at between P40 and P48 per kg.
Imported rice ranges from P54 to P65 for the special variety and P52 to P60 for premium.
For local rice, the special variety costs P55 to P63 per kg and P45 to P58 per kg for the premium variety.
