NFA to import rice only from private suppliers

The National Food Authority will continue to import milled rice, but this time only from private-sector suppliers from abroad, amid efforts to check opportunities for corruption in grains procurement, according to Cabinet Secretary Leoncio B. Evasco.

In a statement, Evasco said the shift to G2P (government-to-private) transactions from the previous practice of G2G (government-to-government) importation was “more competitive, least corrupt and transparent.”

He said this meant private suppliers from participating countries would now be allowed to participate in the bidding. Previously, the NFA contracted shipments only from state-run grain companies — mostly from Vietnam and Thailand — to beef up its inventory.

“We have to make drastic changes in order to ensure a corrupt-free and competitive bidding process at the NFA,” said Evasco, chair of the NFA Council, the agency’s decision-making body.

“Hence instead of doing a G2G, the council will push a G2P to increase accountability and transparency,” he said. “While the G2G is exempt from the Government Procurement Reform Act, G2P is not.”

Also, Evasco said the NFA Council had approved the importation by the NFA through the G2P scheme to augment the agency’s buffer stock for the lean production months of July to September.

However, he said the council was still waiting for the National Food Security Committee’s (NFSC) recommendation on the volume of rice to be imported.

The NFA has a standing authorization to bring in 250,000 metric tons of the staple grain, which was half the volume that was given the green light in 2016.

The agency is required to maintain a buffer stock of at least 15 days’ worth of consumption at any given time. During the lean months, when the year’s main or wet-season crop is still being planted and grown, the NFA is required to hold at least 30 days’ worth of supply.

According to Evasco, Filipinos nationwide consume a total of 32,720 metric tons of rice daily.

Evasco said that, aside from NFA’s importation, the NFA Council also approved the importation by private entities of a total of 805,000 metric tons this year, through the Minimum Access Volume or MAV.

The MAV is a mechanism of the World Trade Organization that suspended the implementation of tariffs on rice for countries where trade of the staple grain is socially sensitive, while committing the concerned country to ensure a minimum volume of guaranteed importation.