Economists: Strip NFA of its power to grant import permits

As lawmakers continue to iron out legislative kinks that will allow the country to import more rice, economists are pushing for major reforms in the National Food Authority (NFA) including removing its power to grant import permits to private traders.

In a forum organized by the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), former dean of the UP School of Economics Ramon Clarete said the grains agency should not be allowed to keep its licensing power as this contradicts the goal of rice tariffication—which is to ease the restrictions imposed on importing rice.

The forum was attended by economists and other industry stakeholders to discuss how the government should proceed in removing the import quotas on rice.

Giving NFA this broad power would mean, “like we’re not changing anything because the one who’s still controlling the policy would be NFA,” he said.

Economics professor and former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cielito Habito agreed, adding the NFA must focus on maintaining the country’s rice inventory instead.

“The NFA should not be abolished but repurposed … It must be confined to buffer stocking while rice assistance for the poor can be handled by the DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development] together with [local governments],” he said in his presentation.

NFA’s mandate is to maintain a 15-day buffer stock at any given time and a 30-day buffer stock during the lean season. For this year, the agency was not able to fulfill the directive.

PHL Confederation of Grains Association Inc. president Jojie Co Jr. added the current rice crisis was primarily caused by the government’s policies, citing the NFA’s failure to import at the right time and the right volume given the flawed structure of the agency.