NFA says rice supply adequate, no need for further imports
THE Philippines does not need to tap its standby import authority for rice in the remainder of the year with stocks judged to be suff icient, the National Food Authority (NFA) said.
“We have enough,” Lawyer Maia Chiara Halmen Reina A. Valdez, who chairs the National Food Authority Council and also serves as Undersecretary for the Office of the Cabinet Assistance System, which supervises the grains agency, said in a text message late Monday.
She was responding to a request for updates following the special meeting of the NFA Council that day.
According to data obtained by Businessworld, NFA’s rice stock as of Nov. 30 was 12.34 million 50-kilo bags, equivalent to 19 days’ supply.
The Philippines has the authority to import 250,000 metric tons more worth of rice, part of the 500,000 standby authority approved by the previous government.
The full quota has not been tapped after the dry spell’s impact was not as severe as expected.
The 250,000 MT portion of the authority that was tapped was awarded to the world’s top rice exporters on Aug. 31, with Thailand and Vietnam providing 100,000 MT and 150,000 MT, respectively, under a government-to-government purchasing agreement.
In addition, the grains agency in September opened up to private traders the importation of additional 805,200 metric tons of rice under the minimum access volume ( MAV) scheme.
The MAV rice importation program allows private traders to apply for the delivery of 293,100 MT each from Thailand and Vietnam. Under the omnibus origin scheme, importers can also buy up to 50,000 MT each from China, top supplier India and Pakistan, up to 15,000 MT from Australia, up to 4,000 MT from El Salvador, and 50,000 MT from any other country.
All rice under this importation scheme is expected to arrive in the country not later than Feb. 28 next year and is levied a 35% tariff. —