DA chief bares reforms on rice distribution

By Anna Gabriela A. Mogato, Reporter
A SERIES of reforms is expected to be introduced in the local rice market by a technical working group (TWG) composed of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA) and the National Food Authority (NFA).
Agriculture secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said in a press conference on Thursday that the TWG “will look into how to improve the rice industry in the country.”
One of the reforms expected would be the use of a traceability system based on the price monitoring of rice as conducted by DA, DTI, and NFA.
“I noticed that there was no way of validating where the rice came from– if it’s imported or local. So our problem is the traceability and you know the racket of our importers — they will import the rice and rebag it then sell these as fancy or commercial rice,” Mr. Piñol said.
“I talked to [NFA Administrator Jason Laureano Y.] Aquino that we should impose a traceability system. This means that before a sack of rice leaves Thailand or Vietnam, we should know where it came from…when it reaches the Philippines.”
Other reforms seen are extending rice buffer stocks to reach 60 days and shifting from warehouses to silos for palay storage.
“[I also told Mr. Aquino that] we should place CCTV in all the warehouses of NFA where there are stocks of imported rice so that we have a recording of who withdrew it,” Mr. Piñol said.
“The trucks should have tracking devices so that from the warehouse, we’d know if it diverted and went somewhere else. We can make these efforts transparent.”
Mr. Piñol also noted problems in rice distribution, with no system to gauge pricing as rice would be sold as low as P38 and as high as P100.
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said they are conducting a feasibility study on imposing suggested retail prices for regular-milled and well-milled rice, noting that some rice coming from private firms already have branding.
Aside from the TWG, Mr. Piñol announced that an executive committee will be formed to deal with NFA’s day-to-day operations. This includes studying policies, local procurement and rice importation.
The committee, composed of the Department of Finance, DTI, DA and NFA, will make recommendaitons based on its discussions with the interagency NFA Council.