WTO extends PH farmer-friendly rice import limits by 5 years

AFTER two years of negotiations with the World Trade Organization (WTO), Manila has finally acquired a five-year extension of its quantitative restriction (QR) on imported rice, which should protect local farmers from an influx of cheap imports of the grain, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday.

“By July this year, we will [be] implementing a new round of QR,” Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala told a media briefing.