The number of applications is expected to breach the 2.6 million MT projection of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This is seen to further increase as the Rice Import Liberalization Act takes effect. USDA hiked its earlier projection of 2.3 million MT following reduced crop estimates and the lifting of the quantitative restriction on the commodity. The Philippines is seen to become the second-largest rice importer for 2019, next to China with an estimated 4.5 million MT of rice imports. This after Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Import Liberalization Law took effect, which replaced rice import quantitative restrictions with tariffs and reverted the minimum access volume to its 2012 levels.

Source: Philippine Star March 13, 2019 16:58 UTC