THE Philippines is keeping the quantitative restriction on rice purchases in place for three more years, limiting supplies from major sellers like Thailand and Vietnam, according to an executive order released on Monday.

The maximum volume of rice that private traders can ship in annually will remain at 805,200 tons until 2020, with the tariff also kept at 35%, the order signed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte on April 27 showed. The Philippines, one of the world’s top rice importers, is supposed to lift the import restriction by July 1 this year under an agreement with the World Trade Organization (WTO). It was not immediately clear if Manila needs to seek another waiver from the trade body from its obligation to open up the domestic rice market.

Originally posted at http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=TopStory&title=rice-import-restriction-extended&id=145632