Agriculture chief seeks to restore NFA power to import rice

MANILA — Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel on Monday proposed restoring the ability of the National Food Authority (DFA) to import rice to ensure food security and help stabilize the price of rice in the country. 

But Laurel also said this should only be done "through the authority of the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.” 

Under the Rice Tariffication Law, the NFA is no longer allowed to directly sell to public markets, and its function was limited to ensuring buffer stocks for disasters. 

“We propose to strengthen the role of the National Food Authority as a price stabilizer. By restoring its ability to import, but only through the authority of the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, so that what happened before with NFA should not happen again," he said.

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Laurel made the statement as he discussed the DA’s proposed amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) before the hearing of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food.

“The continuation of the RTL is the way to go in my opinion. It is incumbent upon us to sustain the gains under RTL albeit with critical modifications that is needed to strengthen it further and ensure optimum impact in its implementation,” Laurel said.

 The DA also proposed to restore NFA's warehouse registration and monitoring functions and its price stabilization and supply regulation functions through market intervention.

“As of the moment, there is no way for anybody in government to do market intervention, which is needed during drastic times in our world history,” he added, citing that El Niño has become more frequent which has affected the supply of rice.

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The DA also proposed the extension of the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund until 2030, as well as the reallocation of funds towards farm machinery, especially post-harvest, seed development and training and extension services with special attention given to soil testing and soil health improvement initiatives. 

“In particular, we need to expand the scope of mechanization to include the construction and improvement of post-harvest facilities, which is badly needed, including silos and dryers. This includes, but not limited to warehouses, grain storage, drying, processing, and other facilities,” Laurel said.

The DA also proposed the creation of the Rice Industry Development Program Management Office to serve as a secretariat of the RCEF that shall cover overall coordination, regular monitoring, and management of a comprehensive database, among others, “ensuring that interventions are well coordinated and effectively implemented.”

The DA also proposed that the rice import tariff revenues exceeding P15 billion be allocated to various programs aimed at financial assistance, crop diversification, water impounding, and watershed rehabilitation and development, and solar power irrigation programs, and seed cold storage facilities.

“I note that the RTL is just one of the first programs to be implemented for the progressive efforts undertaken by the government to build productivity and enhance the resiliency of our agriculture sector and the economy in general,” Laurel said.

“It is imperative given that the Philippine agriculture faces both the challenges of the volatilities caused by global conflicts and difficulties posed by climate change and natural calamities,” he added.

Asked by Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo why prices of rice remain high despite his assurance that there is no rice shortage, Laurel explained that the bulk of rice being sold was bought by importers when the rice prices in the international market were still high in January and February.

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While Laurel sees the price of rice easing in about three weeks, he later said he cannot guarantee prices will go down as he does not have the power to intervene in the market.

"One thing is I cannot guarantee na bababa ang price after 3 weeks. I’m just saying under normal circumstances na pababa ang world price, ito yung mga—I cannot guarantee anything because I don’t have the power to intervene. That’s why I’m requesting for that power to intervene para pwede kong pabagsakin ang presyo,” Laurel said.

REVIEW OF MARCOS ORDER

Meanwhile, the House Committee on Agriculture agreed on the need to review Administrative Order No. 20 issued by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. 

The order aims to streamline administrative processes and remove non-tariff barriers for agricultural products thereby facilitating the sufficiency and timeliness of imports. 

Laurel said he has asked Marcos for a 90-day extension to come up with the AO’s implementing rules and regulations and that he will meet with NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and relevant officials to ensure the need to facilitate ease of doing business and protect farmers and fishermen.

“I would like to reiterate that I was never and my new team was not consulted about this AO and I think the old team in DA was consulted but not my team. Sa akin po ang AO ho is a band-aid solution to a temporary problem. Hindi ako masyadong komporme dyan," Laurel said.

"There are other ways to skin the cat, marami kasing ibang problema dyan. But as of the moment, we have asked the President for a 90-day extension which I think he will be approving for the IRR of this AO 20. Ang specific instruction naman niya from the last time we talked on May 2 or 3 last week regarding this particular issue is he has to protect the farmers and fishermen," he added.