P27/kg NFA rice to remain available under Rice Tariffication Act — Agriculture chief
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Wed, 06 Mar 2019 07:09:30 +0000
THE National Food Authority (NFA) has assured the public that its P27 per kilo rice would still be available in the markets even with the amended Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) under the Rice Tariffication Act.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, chairman of the NFA Council, which approved the amended IRR on Tuesday, said the NFA would adopt the “rolling buffer stocking” scheme and buy palay from local farmers all-year round with an optimal level of buffer stocks good for 30 days.
Once the grains agency has reached the optimal level, the NFA would be allowed to release the “aged stocks” to prevent spoilage as milled rice may not be kept beyond six months, Piñol said.
This overrides the provision of the law that the NFA will stop buying farmers produce when it reaches its “optimal level” of buffer stocks at 30 days and may only release stocks during emergencies.
“The ‘Rolling Buffer Stocking’ system will allow the NFA to roll over its procurement funds and continuously buy local rice, thus protecting the farmers from a feared drop in the buying price,” Piñol said in a statement.
Piñol said that this development would ensure that NFA would continue supplying grain retailers with its low-priced rice, despite losing its authority to license them in the domestic market.
The price of NFA palay buying price, however, would have to be adjusted “to ensure that the agency does not lose money” since it will be limited to buffer-stocking agency under the new law.
The agriculture chief had announced that the imported stocks would last until the end of August this year. By September, the NFA will start buying local farmers’ produce, which will be released to the markets as cheap priced NFA rice, Piñol said.
It was also agreed during the NFA Council meeting on Tuesday that requirements on “collaterals” in the P1-billion credit facility under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) be eliminated.
This means that the RCEF Credit Program will impose an interest that is 1/3 of the prevailing rates of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to farmers who wish to avail the loan.
The new IRR of Republic Act 11203 provided that the machinery and farm equipment and seeds would be given to the rice farmers as grant.
The NFA Council has also approved a draft resolution of other minor revisions of the IRR based on the inputs gathered in the consultations conducted by the DA last week.
The paper, Piñol said, would then be endorsed to the DA, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
The Rice Import Liberalization allows unlimited importation of rice as long as traders secure a phytosanitary permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
Under RA 11203, the country will apply a 35 percent tariff on rice shipments from Asean member states, 40 percent for in-quota or within minimum access volume (MAV) from non-Asean, and 180 percent for out-quota and non-Asean or as calculated by the Tariff Commission.
The new law also calls for the establishment of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), which will be endowed with P10 billion a year for six years to be utilized to provide different forms of assistance to the country’s rice farmers such as the development of inbred rice seeds, the development of rice farm equipment and skills enhancement. EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ
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