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THE
Department of Agriculture (DA) is now seriously
considering the possibility of removing the trade
function of its attached agency, the National Food
Authority (NFA), and retaining its function of building
up buffer stocks that would ensure the country has
enough rice supply during emergencies.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap told reporters that
his department is seriously considering possible
amendments to existing laws governing the operation and
functions of the NFA.
Yap said
among the changes the DA is looking at is to remove from
the NFA the function of buying palay at a certain price
and selling milled rice at a subsidized rate. He said
the department is also looking at the possibility of
disallowing the NFA to import rice.
“The
rationalization of NFA is long overdue. To me, the sole
function of the NFA should be to build up buffer stocks
and not to engage in stabilizing market prices,” he
said.
The DA
chief said he has created a technical advisory group
which helps him study possible strategies for
restructuring the NFA. The group is composed of
economists and agriculture experts from the University
of the Philippines and the University of Asia and the
Pacific.
“The
group supports the President’s position that rice
self-sufficiency is not the ‘holy grail.’ That what we
should fight for is food self-reliance,” he said.
Yap also
said that among the arguments against NFA’s involvement
in stabilizing the price of rice is that it tends to
distort rice prices—something which should be dictated
upon by market forces.
Efforts
by the DA to restructure the NFA are now in high gear
after the agency was tagged as the single biggest drain
on the national government’s resources among all
government-owned and -controlled corporations.
The NFA
has been incurring huge debts from commercial banks as
it shoulders the 50-percent duty on imported rice.
Currently, only the NFA is allowed to import rice to
plug the projected shortfall in rice production as well
as to build buffer stocks to ensure the country would
have enough supply during emergencies.
The
agency also buys palay at a support price—around P10 per
kilo, depending on the quality. Under existing laws, the
NFA is also mandated to sell cheaper rice to consumers.
During
times of calamities, the agency also distributes free
rice to affected families.
Yap said
consultations are currently underway to make sure any
policy recommendations his department would make on
restructuring the NFA would not have an adverse impact
on inflation or the rise in the prices of consumer
goods. |
