By GMA Integrated News

The Marcos administration will lift the ban on rice importation in January 2026 but will reimpose it again from February to April that same year, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said Monday.

Tiu Laurel made the announcement before the House joint committee on agriculture and food as well as ways and means’ public hearing on the status of the Executive Order 93 which suspends the importation of regular milled and well-milled rice for 60 days, a measure that took effect last September 1.

“The EO (93) issued actually has no end date. So, our moves now include extending the ban on rice imports until the end of 2025, and of course, we wish for a higher tariff [for rice imports], which is still being studied by our economic managers,” Tiu Laurel said.

“If the said tariff is increased, then well and good. Otherwise…more or less this is already approved by the President, we will allow [rice] importation in January for one month. Then in February, we cut [rice importation] again until the end of April. From February to April, there will be no rice importation,” he added.

He said the holdout on rice imports from February to April next will coincide with the harvest season, allowing local farmers’ produce to dominate the market.

“These steps [are being taken] thinking ahead. But I believe we have to import by January just to make sure because our imported stocks this year stopped in September,” Tiu Laurel said.

“By DA (Department of Agriculture) estimates, that will all be used up by the end of November,” he added. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA Integrated News

Published Date: October 7, 2025