Starting today, when RA 11203 or the Rice Liberalization Law takes effect, the National Food Authority will no longer exercise regulatory functions over the international and domestic trading of rice.
Aside from removing NFA’s regulatory powers over the import and export of rice, RA 11203 also repealed the following NFA functions over the domestic rice industry: Licensing and registration of persons and entities engaged in the grains business, collection of regulatory fees, issuance of negotiable warehouse receipts, warehouse inspection, authority to seize hoarded stocks, and enforce rules and regulations in the grains business, among others.
“The implementing rules and regulations [IRR] of the law are yet to be finalized. But as spelled out in the law’s self-executing provisions, we have already instructed our field offices to cease all regulatory functions over our local grains business starting March 5,” NFA OIC administrator Tomas Escarez explained.
Section 4 of RA 11203 repealed “laws and all other laws or provisions of law prescribing quantitative import restrictions or granting government agencies the power to impose such restrictions…hindering the liberalization of the importation, exportation and trading of rice…”
It also enumerated subparagraphs of Section 6 (a) of Presidential Decree No. 4 as amended, which pertains to the above-mentioned regulatory functions of NFA.
“We will just be waiting for the release of the final IRR before we fully shift our focus on buffer stocking for calamities and emergencies, as stated under the law, and on the eventual restructuring of our agency to suit its new functions,” Escarez said.
Before the signing of RA 11203 by President Rodrigo Duterte on Feb. 14, the NFA had aired its concerns regarding the possible implications of the removal of the agency’s regulatory powers over the local grains industry. These were sent to the concerned legislators, members of the NFA Council, and the President.
“Now that the law has been signed and due to take effect starting March 5, we have to abide by it,” Escarez said.
As early as January, Escarez had already instructed NFA field offices to focus on aggressive palay procurement for buffer stocking, in the wake of sporadic harvests especially in Mindanao provinces.
“March is the start of the summer crop harvest and we are ready to buy palay from our farmers,” Escarez said.
NFA buys palay at the current support price of P17.00/kilogram plus additional incentives of P3.00/kg (buffer stocking incentive) and P0.70/kg for delivery, drying and cooperative development. This means an individual farmer can get a maximum of P20.40/kg while members of farmer cooperatives will get a maximum of P20.70/kg of palay sold to NFA.