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RICE
traders are not keen on importing the staple even at
zero tariff due to the steep cost of the commodity in
the world market.
Herculano Joji Co, chairman of the Philippine
Confederation of Grains Association (Philcongrains),
said that despite encouragement by the government to
make importation attractive to the private sector,
traders are not interested because the commodity has
become more expensive in recent months.
“As far
as I know, no [local trader or company] is keen on
importing because rice in the international market is
now very expensive. Personally, I do not want to import;
I’d rather buy from the domestic market. It’s more
cost-effective,” said Co in a telephone interview.
Based on
recent reports, imported rice now costs more than $1,000
a metric ton (MT), including freight. At this price,
imported rice will be sold at a minimum of P42 a
kilogram (kg) in the domestic market.
Currently, Co said he buys palay from domestic farmers
at P19/kg. At this price, the cost of milled rice would
reach P38/kg.
The
Philcongrains official also disclosed that the
government has already issued the guidelines for
importing rice. “Even at zero tariff, we are not
interested to import it [rice]. We will just leave it to
the National Food Authority [NFA] to bring in the volume
allocated to us.”
Malacañang Thursday sought to allay concerns over the
planned pullout of government-subsidized rice from Metro
Manila markets, assuring poor families that there is no
need to “panic” over the scheme because it is precisely
meant to improve the distribution of the P18.25 kg rice
to the intended beneficiaries.
Deputy
Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo told Palace
reporters the NFA will continue to provide P25/kg rice
in public markets in Metro Manila for families who are
not qualified to have the so-called family-access cards
that are required for the purchase of the cheaper NFA
rice.
“There’s
no reason to panic. I think we just want to make sure
that there will be proper distribution, that those who
need it most would really get the P18.25 NFA rice. This
is why the President gave a two-week deadline to perfect
the system of family-access cards and the [poverty]
mapping. It would prevent those who seek to take
advantage of the situation,” she said.
Earlier,
the government announced that it would allow the private
sector to bring in as much as 600,000 MT of imported
rice. NFA Administrator Jessup Navarro said this figure
already includes the volume that the government will
allow the farmers’ groups to import under the program.
In
effect, the private sector will be allowed to bring in
the volume at zero tariff since the NFA will shoulder
the 50-percent tariff slapped on the imports.
Under
the plan, importers will just have to pay the P2/kg
service fee. The private sector would also have to
shoulder the freight cost of imported rice.
The NFA
is rushing to import as much rice as it can before the
lean months of July, August and September.
To
qualify for the access cards, families must earn only a
monthly income of P4,500, said Fajardo, and those who
earn more than that can buy the P25/kg NFA rice that
would continue to be distributed in the markets.
She said
an estimated 100,000 families are expected to benefit
from the scheme in Metro Manila, where it is being
pilot-tested.
Fajardo
also brushed aside criticisms, mostly coming from
lawmakers, about the limited distribution of the cheaper
NFA rice; and urged them to provide solutions to the
rice-supply problem instead.
On Sen.
Rodolfo Biazon’s proposal for the government to suspend
its biofuels program and focus more on food production,
Fajardo said the government has always given priority to
food security and welcomes all “productive” suggestions
for further study.
“It can
be studied so we can consider it,” she said.
Fajardo,
who is also Presidential Assistant for
Central Luzon,
said she has helped Central Luzon farmers’ groups draft
a letter to President Arroyo, seeking national
government support for the promotion of brown-rice
consumption in the country.
She said
that in her recent trip to Nueva Ecija, she met with
leaders of farmers’ groups National Farmers Supreme
Council (Sanduguan) and Bukid, who proposed the
promotion of brown rice.
“We
wrote the President. We have not received any response.
Again, it is the Department of Agriculture that should
recommend this. On our part, we are only expressing the
recommendations of our farmers,” she said.
The NFA
is encouraging more Filipinos to prefer brown rice over
well-milled rice because it has higher nutritional value
and would lessen the country’s rice importation. |
