The National Food Authority is finally pushing through with the procurement of 250,000 metric tons of milled rice, this time opening the process to anyone interested—from here or abroad—instead of the usual foreign suppliers.
The decision comes after months of uncertainty amid disagreements within the NFA Council, the agency’s governing body, on when, from where and through whom to source the buffer stock for domestic emergency—whether man-made or natural.
In a notice to prospective suppliers, the NFA invited “all interested bidders, whether foreign or local,” as long as they complied with conditions of eligibility as spelled out in the implementing rules of the Government Procurement Reform Act or Republic Act No. 9184.
The agency has earmarked about P5.64 billion for the entire package, which would be divided into at least five lots with maximum volume of 50,000 tons each.
In previous years, NFA auctions for rice were done through a government-to-government importation regime —to which state-run suppliers from Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia were invited to participate.
Last month, Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, who chairs the NFA’s governing body, said the NFA would continue to import milled rice, but only from private-sector suppliers, amid efforts to check opportunities for corruption in grains procurement.