NFA clarifies proposal to buy Boc-seized smuggled rice

THE NATIONAL FOOD Authority today clarified that its proposal to buy the smuggled rice recently seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Cebu City was meant to give BOC an option for the expeditious disposition of the stocks and not to interfere with its operations.

NFA Administrator Orlan A. Calayag said the proposal to enter into an agency to agency arrangement with BOC with regard to confiscated smuggled rice stocks was also made with the end view of strengthening the partnership between the two agencies. The NFA’s intentions for said proposal were explained by Calayag in two letters to Customs Commissioner Rozzano Rufino Biazon dated July 9 and 17, 2013.

Calayag issued this clarification in the wake of media reports that the NFA had allegedly attempted to prevent the BOC from undertaking a scheduled auction of the seized rice.

The NFA head was concerned that during the lean months, from July to September, when harvest is very minimal, the situation may be taken advantaged of by some traders who would constrict market supply to create an artificial shortage and raise prices. The rice stock held by BOC, if infused into the market, will counteract any attempt to distort the rice market, he said.

Calayag said the NFA’s legal team is currently re-evaluating the legal basis for the said proposal, particularly in connection with the Procurement Act in relation to the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines.

He also recommended the immediate disposition of the seized rice so that the Bureau may help stabilize the price of rice in the market.

Meanwhile, with the release of NFA well-milled rice at P32/kilogram, market prices of rice have been stabilized. Commercial rice traders immediately released their own stocks priced at P31-33/kg, thus bridging the gap in prices and providing more options for consumers to choose the kind and quality of rice they can afford to buy.

Before NFA released the mid-priced well-milled rice, the agency’s monitoring teams observed that commercial rice prices for the same quality of rice were being sold at P34-35/kg.

Calayag also belied reports that rice prices in Cebu have increased by P4/kg saying that the NFA in Cebu has more than enough stocks to counter any sharp increase in rice prices.

NFA Cebu presently holds some 1.2 million bags of rice which is good for 63 days or way beyond the standard requirement of 30 days level.

Calayag said the NFA will soon release the agency’s well-milled rice at P32/kg in Cebu to further stabilize rice prices in the area.