Published December 15, 2020, 5:00 AM
As a result of the government’s decision to regulate the issuance of import permits on rice, the Philippines will now end the year with slightly lower imports of the staple.
Despite this, the country is still poised to retain its status as the world’s top rice importer.
In its latest report on global rice production, the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) forecast for the Philippines’ 2020 rice imports has been reduced from 2.5 million metric tons (MT) to 2.3 million MT.
This, according to USDA, was because of the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture’s (DA) decision not to issue additional import permits for the remainder of the year.