The Philippine government will reduce the tariffs on imported rice starting next week, a Department of Agriculture spokesperson said Monday.

In a radio interview, Assistant Agriculture Secretary Arnel De Mesa said Executive Order no. 62 that allows the tariff on imported rice to be be cut from 35 percent to 15 35 percent o will be implemented despite the plan of farmers groups to ask the Supreme Court to stop this.

"That is the right of everyone under the Constitution. We will wait for the result of this process but on the part of the Department of Agriculture since an executive order was already issued by the president, the government will comply," he said.

"EO No. 62 was signed and published last June 20, and according to this EO the validity of this will start 15 days after publication so if we compute the implementation it will start around July 5 or 6, so the tariff of imported rice that will arrive on this date will be reduced," he added.

De Mesa added the price of the "whole rice industry" may also go down due to the tariff cuts.

"Based on our last year's data 3.6 million metric tons (MT) of imported rice have arrived in our country and our production in the rice farm is about 13.7 million MT. Around 25 percent of the total rice consumed last year was imported. If the volume is as big as that, definitely it will have an impact in the retail prices" he said.

"It will really have an impact later on because the farmgate is still high right now. But if the prices in the market will go down that will be the effect and it will have an impact in the farmgate price of rice in the level of our farmers but it could be a big help if the (National Food Authority) NFA will be able to sustain the procurement of rice in the price of 23 to 30 pesos," he added.

De Mesa noted that 90 percent of imported rice in the Philippines were supplied by Vietnam and Thailand while others came from India, Pakistan and other Southeast Asian countries. Robina Asido/DMS