The Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Friday that more than 35,000 metric tons (MT) of rice imports have arrived in the country under the recently implemented lower tariff rate order.

“The volume reached is 35,594 metric tons. This is as of July 11, the first week of the implementation of the effectiveness of EO 62,” DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said, adding that a 15 percent tariff rate has been applied to these arrivals.

De Mesa said that the average rice imports were 400,000 MT from January to May. He said the volume went down in June but noted the possibility of rice imports increasing in the coming months.

Approved sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPSIC) for rice the entire month of July is 302.

Moreover, with the arrival of the rice stocks, local rice prices is expected to decline by P6 to P7.

“It's not reflecting yet, but little by little,” De Mesa said, adding that the price decrease may be felt by August when the imported staple grain with a reduced tariff will enter the local markets.

The total rice imports as of this year are 2.37 million MT.

In June, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order 62, ordering the modification of nomenclature and tariff rates on various products to ensure the continuous supply of goods and to protect the purchasing power of the Filipino people.

This reduction in rice tariffs for both in- and out-quota rates will take effect until 2028.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Lauel Jr. earlier said slashing the duty rate of imported rice from 35 percent to 15 percent is a reasonable move for the moment as the staple grain prices on the world market are very high, but he hopes the policy won't last long.

DA's price monitoring on Friday showed that imported special rice in major wet markets in Metro Manila is priced at P55 to P65 per kilo, and the premium is between P53 and P60 per kilo; well-milled is P51 to P55 per kilo, and regular milled is P47 to P49 per kilo.

Local commercial special rice, on the other hand, is priced between P56 and P65 per kilo, with the premium rice at P50 and P58, the well-milled variety at P45 to 55 per kilo, and the regular milled variety at P45 to P50 per kilo.