China has agreed to support the Philippines' bid to extend quantitative restrictions, or QR, on rice imports in exchange for a rice import quota allocation of 25,000 MT, by seven years, or until 2012.

Under the QR system, the Philippine government can set a limit on the country's annual import volumes, preventing a possible influx of cheap imported commodities. In addition to providing import allocation, the Philippines has agreed to increase its minimum access volume, or MAV, for rice to 350,000 MT from 238,940 MT currently. The MAV is the minimum volume of sensitive agricultural products that member-states of the World Trade Organization must bring in at preferential tariff rates.