Agri chief: PHL to cut rice imports by more than 50%

Confident of the country’s rice production so far, the government plans to import less than 1 million metric tons (MT) of rice for 2011, less than half the volume it imported in 2010. Despite being an agricultural country, the Philippines is the world’s biggest importer of the commodity. Last year, the government bought as much as 2.47 million MT of rice largely from Thailand and Vietnam. In an interview during the Economic Managers’ meeting Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said that Philippine rice imports will likely be less than the initial target of 1.3 million MT. Field reports show that rice planted for the dry-cropping season is in good physical condition, Alcala said. “We might have a robust harvest after all." The secretary said the La Niña phenomenon, an abnormal weather pattern that brings about heavy rains, will not upset the output target of 17.4 million MT for 2011. Last year, another abnormal weather pattern — the drought-inducing El Niño phenomenon — slashed palay output by 3.04 percent to 15.77 million MT. The government last year had implemented measures to expand the area devoted to rice, Alcala said. While it has proposed that the private sector bring in all the grains with the help of the National Food Authority (NFA), the government is open to the possibility of signing bilateral deals for rice imports, the secretary said. Assessing the situation “We’re are also assessing the situation. We have a [memorandum of agreement] with Vietnam but we are not beholden [to] that MOA. We may or may not source rice from Vietnam. We still have that option," Alcala said. He said the government will decide on the initial volume within the next two weeks. The government has already allocated 163,000 MT for the private sector to import under a country-specific quota — a commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in exchange for quantitative restriction on rice. The concession allows the government to protect local farmers by limiting the amount of imported rice and provided that the Philippines imports from four countries only: Thailand, India, Australia, and China. The volume forms part of the recommended rice imports for 2011, but the government will also recommend another 56,000 MT on top of the total volume from Vietnam. This has been held for safekeeping in Vietnam for lack of a government storage facility in the Philippines. All government warehouses remain full with as much as 1.7 million MT of inventory. As of end-January, the Philippine rice inventory totaled 3.39 million MT including 1.13 million MT in households and 563,000 MT in commercial warehouses. — With Paterno Esmaquel II/VS, GMA News