Jasper Emmanuel Arcalas – The Philippine Star 

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has initiated an investigation on preliminary safeguard measures on imported rice that may lead to the imposition of additional tariffs or even import restrictions to protect local farmers.

The DA has issued a notice of initiation of a preliminary safeguard measures investigation on imported rice that was published last March 26 in national dailies.

The issuance of the investigation came almost six months after local groups filed a petition before the DA to impose provisional safeguard duties on imported rice and initiate a safeguards investigation.

Under Republic Act 8800 or the Safeguard Measures Act, the agriculture secretary must determine within five calendar days upon receipt of a petition the existence of a prima facie case to initiate the investigation.

Safeguard is a type of a trade remedy that governments may use to protect domestic producers by raising tariffs or limiting import arrivals after determining that importation has caused substantial harm to local sectors.

The DA has found prima facie evidence of serious injury or threat to the domestic rice industry due to substantial increase in the volume of imported stocks after reviewing the petition, supporting evidence and publicly available data.

The period of investigation covers 2020 until August 2025.

“Upon the recommendation of the Policy Research Service – Trade Remedies Office, the Secretary of Agriculture has determined that the petition and evidence submitted are sufficient in form and substance to establish a prima facie case justifying the initiation of a preliminary safeguard measures investigation,” the notice said.

In the notice, the DA explained that local rice farmers suffered market share loss and suppressed farmgate prices due to increase in imports, resulting in lower self-sufficiency and rise in production costs “without commensurate productivity gains.”

However, former agriculture secretary Leonardo Montemayor questioned the inclusion of the “public interest” clause in the DA’s preliminary safeguards investigation, arguing that it will be an “insurmountable” hurdle before the trade remedy can be applied.

The DA’s notice pointed out that public interest “shall be considered” in the course of the preliminary safeguard measures investigation.

Citing Section 5 of RA 8800, Montemayor explained that the public interest clause is only applicable to safeguard investigations involving non-agricultural products.

The law stipulated that in the case of non-agricultural products, the secretary must first establish that the imposition of safeguard measures will be in the public interest.

In determining such, the secretary must consider whether the imposition of the measure will result in a political or economic crisis or the extent to which such imposition will cause a shortage in the concerned domestic market, based on the law’s implementing rules and regulations.

Published Date: March 30, 2026