The Price of Rice Protectionism

The global price of rice is soaring, and for the Philippines – the world's largest importer of rice annually – that's bad news. Food queues and fears of riots are real fears. But this is a problem of Manila's own making.

Alone among World Trade Organization member nations, the Philippines imposes quantitative restrictions on rice imports, implemented by a government monopoly. Since the 1970s, the state-owned and controlled National Food Authority (NFA) has maintained tight controls on rice imports. This policy has stood in sharp contrast to other countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh, which have abolished, privatized or sharply reduced the authority and scale of their food monopolies – and enjoyed more efficient production and cheaper consumer prices.

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