The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) granted 2,294 permits to 208 private entities that sought to import 2.041 million metric tons (MMT) of milled rice since March, based on the latest data from the agency.
Figures from the BPI, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA) indicated that cooperatives, traders and institutions applied for sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPS-IC) from March 5 to July 30.
In July alone, the BPI issued 776 SPS-IC for the purchase of 562,332.8 MT of rice from Myanmar, Spain, Thailand and Vietnam.
Among those applying for import permits from March to July, the agency’s records indicated that Arvin International Marketing Inc. accounted for the biggest volume at 72,018.6 MT.
Puregold Price Club Inc., the grocery-chain operator owned by businessman Lucio Co, was among the top 5 import applicants during the period with a cumulative volume of 55,585 MT.
A total of 173 eligible importers used 1,041 SPS-ICs and brought in 930,031.888 MT of rice as of end-July. The imports were sourced from Italy, Myanmar, Pakistan, Spain, Thailand and Vietnam.
The BPI was mandated to facilitate private-sector importation by issuing SPS-ICs once Republic Act (RA) 11203, which eased the restrictions on imports, took effect on March 5.
Under the new trade regime, private entities must only secure an SPS-IC from the BPI prior to importing rice. This is because RA 11203, or the rice trade liberalization law, removed the power of the National Food Authority (NFA) to regulate the local rice market and issue import licenses.
The BPI is mandated to act on every application to secure an import permit within seven days. Failure to do so would mean automatic approval of the application.
The entry of cheaper imports was tagged as the single biggest reason behind the plunge in domestic palay prices. Planters have already lost some P40 billion, as traders slashed their quotations for local palay, according to the Federation of Free Farmers.
The average farm-gate price of unhusked rice fell to P17.85 per kilogram in end-June, the lowest in two-and-a-half years, as rice imports surged past 1.3 MMT, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a report that the country’s rice imports this year will rise by 20 percent to a record high of 3 MMT, making the Philippines one of the world’s top buyers of the staple.
The USDA also said purchases of imported rice rose after the government removed the quantitative restriction on rice with the implementation of RA 11203.