WASHINGTON is making available $100 million in credit guarantees for the sale of farm commodities produced in the United States to Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines.

The amount is available under the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Export Credit Guarantee program of the Commodity Credit Corp. (GSM-102) for fiscal year 2010.

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue’s “Santax Claus” project is not meant to generate additional funds for the agency but just to prod smaller businesses on their duty to issue receipts to buyers, acting BIR Commissioner Joel  Tan-Torres said on Tuesday.

Tan-Torres said the program only hopes to educate the public on the importance of asking receipts, with a longer-term goal of increasing voluntary payment of taxes.

THE shortfall in the Philippines’ paddy-rice production is forcing the government to buy a minimum of 1.45 million metric tons (MMT) in the international market to beef up government stocks in 2010.

The National Food Authority (NFA) on Monday announced that it is planning to hold another tender for 600,000 metric tons (MT) of milled rice on December 8.