Rice import bids for 674,000 metric tons accepted under MAV

THE National Food Authority (NFA) accepted applications from prospective importers to bring in 674,000 metric tons (MT) of rice under the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) regime, with the auction oversubscribed at 1.82 million MT worth of bids received.
The auction was conducted late Monday at the Bureau of the Treasury in Manila.
The approved import amount leaves part of the MAV quota, which is 805,000 MT, unfilled.
The 2017 MAV auction saw approved import applications for 746,962 MT of rice, against a quota of 805,200 MT.
According to the NFA, 348 bidders composed of farmers’ organizations (FOs) and private corporations were eligible to participate in the auction, with 571 bids were submitted.
NFA Administrator Jason Laureano Y. Aquino said in a statement late Monday that 20% of the total MAV will be allocated to FOs “to ensure that the bidding will not be monopolized by big companies.”
“This is equivalent to 161,000 MT for FO’s, and 644,000 MT for non-FO’s,” he added.
Some 58% of the rice imports will be allocated to Luzon while the Visayas and Mindanao will receive 19% and 23%, respectively.
“First phase will start arriving in July until Aug. 31, 2018, while the second phase will start on Dec. 20, 2018 until Feb. 28, 2019,” Mr. Aquino added.
According to NFA, the remaining 200,673 MT from last year’s quota is set to arrive by Aug. 30.
Under the MAV scheme, only certain amounts of rice can be shipped into the Philippines, from countries with a specific quota.
Thailand and Vietnam are entitled to ship 293,100 MT each, followed by China, India and Pakistan at up to 50,000 MT. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato