Philippines Agriculture Secretary has revealed that the Philippines government was considering a proposal to slash import tariff on rice to allow wider participation in imports of the country's staple food.

Yap said the finance department will likely pattern the rice tariff adjustment to the mechanism used for oil imports, wherein the tariff rate is reduced as world oil prices rise to certain levels.

The Philippines may import as much as 2.7 million MT of rice this year to prevent a supply shortage during the lean months of July, August and September. It has already imported a total of 1.1 million MT so far this year.