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The National Food Authority (NFA) will no longer push through with its earlier proposal to import 330,000 metric tons of rice to fill the gap in the country’s buffer stock, a move lauded by some agricultural groups.
In a phone interview, Agriculture Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla said the NFA was prohibited to source rice from abroad under the Rice Tariffication Law
.“Importation via government-to-government scheme is not allowed unless it’s extreme emergency and the President has the power to do that. But under normal conditions, the NFA is prohibited because of the Rice Tariffication Law,” Sombilla said.
The NFA’s current stockpile is “somewhat low.” Even though it is harvest season, the agriculture official said the NFA is encountering challenges to buy rice at P19 per kilogram.
“They told us they are having difficulties that’s why our rice banner program offered to help out in this aspect,” Sombilla added.
Both the Department of Agriculture and the NFA are exploring various ways to purchase locally produced rice from farmers, such as entering into agreements to procure the produce of clustered farms or farmers’ cooperative and associations. INQ