Philippines temporarily limits rice imports from Vietnam

The Philippines, one of the world’s biggest importers of rice, is taking steps to temporarily limit imports of the grain from Vietnam amid a big harvest at home, three rice traders and an agricultural official said on Wednesday.

The traders said that the Philippines’ department of agriculture had suspended issuing sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance for rice shipments from Vietnam.

The Philippines is Vietnam’s largest rice export market, accounting for 40 per cent of its total rice shipments.

A spokesperson for the Philippines agriculture department confirmed that it was managing the issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance (SPSIC) in accordance with demand.

“We import only what we need, and that we have enough supply at the moment, given the bumper wet season harvest,” the spokesperson said in a response to a query from Reuters.