Rice tariff rate stays at 15% until March

Unless world prices fall below $370/MT

- By JASPER EMMANUEL ARCALAS

Rice tariff will remain at 15 percent, the lowest on record, until the end of first quarter unless international prices fall below $370 per metric ton (MT), a ranking agriculture official said.

Department of Agriculture (DA) Assistant Secretary and spokesman Arnel de Mesa said the threshold established by the government to increase rice tariffs has not yet been breached.

Citing the guidelines, De Mesa said rice tariffs may be increased by five percentage points to 20 percent once the average price of five percent broken Vietnam rice falls between $350 per MT and $367 per MT.