MANILA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos is moving to tighten the country's rice import policy by extending the current two-month import suspension and raising tariffs on foreign rice, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Wednesday.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said Marcos has directed the DA to prepare the necessary orders to extend the import freeze.
"The duration of the import freeze and the possible increase in taxes on imported rice will be determined once we have more accurate data on supply and prices of palay, or unhusked rice, at the farm gate," Tiu Laurel said after conferring with Marcos.
The import suspension, which began on Sept. 1 and is set to end on Nov. 2, was initially imposed to help farmers recover from falling palay prices triggered by a surge in cheaper imported rice. ■
