The country’s rice imports as of February 26 have reached 446,585.050 MT, surpassing the total volume of shipments in the first 2 months of 2020 by 26 percent, latest Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) data showed.
BPI data obtained and analyzed by the BusinessMirror showed that the volume of imports during the period was 93,858.193 MT higher than the 352,999.867 MT recorded in January to February 2020.
BPI data showed that Vietnam remained the top source of imported rice as it accounted for 86.55 percent, or 386,772.67 MT, of rice imports during the period.
Rice imports from Myanmar amounted to 29,689 MT while those from Thailand reached 23,788.65 MT.
Singapore exported 5,163.37 MT of rice to the Philippines while China and India exported 1,400 MT and 44.36 MT, respectively, based on BPI data.
Industry groups noted that the increase in rice imports during the two-month period could be driven by carryover stocks as BPI only resumed issuing sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPS-IC) in late December.
The BPI did not issue any SPS-IC for the months of October and November last year.
BPI data showed that it issued 931 SPS-ICs in December with a corresponding applied volume of 1.043 million metric tons (MMT).
Under existing rice import guidelines, rice imports from Asean countries, except Myanmar, should arrive in the country no later than 60 days from the issuance of SPS-ICs.
Importers have 90 days to bring rice into the country if it will come from Myanmar and other non-Asean countries.
“These [rice arrivals] could be the carryover from the commitments of rice importers last year, which already had contracts but weren’t fulfilled due to the suspension of SPS-IC issuance,” Federation of Free Farmers National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor told the BusinessMirror.
‘Honor commitment’
However, Montemayor and Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) President Danilo V. Fausto flagged the issuance of SPS-ICs by the BPI last month. They said this should not have happened if the agency honored the commitment made by the Department of Agriculture (DA) last year.
BPI data showed that the agency attached to the DA issued 95 SPS-ICs in February for a total applied volume of 138,429.001 MT.
Under existing rice import rules, these SPS-ICs would be valid until April, when farmers are still harvesting rice, Montemayor and Fausto noted.
“We urge the DA to honor [its] commitment to not allow imports during harvest season. We are alarmed by this. We are invoking the commitment of the DA to not issue SPS-IC that will impact domestic harvest,” Fausto told the BusinessMirror.
During a hearing in October 2020, Senators and the DA agreed that traders will only be allowed to import rice for a total of 5 months. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/10/23/consensus-reached-on-rice-imports-reforms/)
Based on the verbal agreement, BPI will only issue SPS-ICs during the months of November, December, January, May and June.
An agriculture official disclosed during the hearing that this will ensure that imported rice will arrive during the lean months of January, February, July and August.
Fausto and Montemayor said the harvest of rice will start this week in some areas like Bulacan and will run until the month of April.
Montemayor said the DA-BPI must calibrate or manage the arrival of imports and issuance of SPS-ICs in the first semester to ensure that no imports would arrive during harvest season.
From January to February 26, the BPI has issued a total of 174 SPS-ICs for an applied volume of 238,139.001 MT.
Number of importers
BPI data obtained by the BusinessMirror also showed that the number of importers this year has been slashed by more than half as cooperatives and farmers’ organizations were restricted from importing rice.
BPI data indicated that only 80 eligible importers, composed of corporations, firms, retailers, millers and traders, imported the staple this year.
Last year the BPI recorded a total of 193 rice importers, bulk of which were cooperatives and farmers’ groups, slightly lower than the 217 rice importers recorded in 2019.
BPI data showed that San Pedro Rice Mill was the top rice importer during the period with a total volume of 28,290 MT followed by Arvin International Marketing Inc. which imported 24,858 MT of rice.
In October Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar ordered the suspension of the issuance of SPS-ICs to cooperatives and associations, including irrigators’ associations for commercial purposes until further notice. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/11/05/da-blanket-ban-on-co-op-rice-importers-risks-challenge/)
Dar issued the order following the publication of reports that cooperatives, particularly those of farmers, as well farmers’ organizations and irrigators’ associations are used by unscrupulous traders as dummies in importing rice.
The BusinessMirror broke the story in 2019 that unscrupulous traders continue to use farmers’ cooperatives and associations as their dummies even after the rice industry was liberalized. (Read the award-winning story here: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/10/31/pre-and-post-rice-trade-liberalization-law-big-traders-gaming-farmer–groups/).
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