COMPANIES interested in the open rice importation program may start filing applications today, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said, noting that there is no need to wait for the passage of the rice tariffication bill to proceed with the implementation of the measure.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Mr. Piñol said that the National Food Authority (NFA), however, will be evaluating applicants based on their financial, warehousing and retailing capabilities.
“The purpose of the importation is to bring down the price of rice. Why would I wait for the bill? What if it takes long? We’ll be facing complaints if rice prices rise again,” Mr. Piñol said.
“There are guidelines on who are qualified to import. It’s going to be open but we will be very strict in the implementation of the evaluation… This will effectively weed out fly-by-night importers,” Mr. Piñol said.
Mr. Piñol said the 10% of the importer’s net worth is the volume cap, with sufficient warehousing to hold all the rice on order.
Mr. Piñol said he does not believe the imports will flood the market with rice as the importers will determine when to stop importing.
“According to our assessment, although some people fear a flooding of imported rice in the market, I don’t think that will happen. When the importers see large volumes on the market and the prices go down to a level where they cannot make money, they will stop importing,” Mr. Piñol said.
He noted that “the absorptive capacity of the market will set the cap.”
Mr. Piñol said that the NFA Council has yet to discuss the removal of the minimum access volume (MAV) next year, noting that such a move would be overtaken by rice tariffication.
Mr. Piñol said he does not want the NFA to be abolished as it can co-exist with rice tariffication.
“I am not in favor of the proposal to abolish NFA because it will effectively deprive poor families access to subsidized rice,” Mr. Piñol said. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

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